1

NOAA Technical Memorandum ERL GLERL-94

LAKE ERIE WATER TEMPERATURE DATA

ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA 1916-1992

Michael J. McCormick

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

Ann Arbor, Michigan

August 1996

UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Mickey Kantor

Secretary

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND

ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

D. James Baker

Under Secretary for Oceans

and Atmosphere/Administrator

Environmental Research

Laboratories

James L. Rasmussen

Director

NAT OI NAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRAT OI N

U.S.DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
2

NOTICE

Mention of a commercial company or product does not constitute an endorsement

by the NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories. Use of information from

this publication concerning proprietary products or the tests of such products for

publicity or advertising purposes is not authorized. This is GLERL Contribution

No. 1007. NTIS# PB96-197991/XAB.
3

NOAA Technical Memorandum ERL GLERL-94

LAKE ERIE WATER TEMPERATURE DATA

ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA 1916-1992

Michael J. McCormick

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

2205 Commonwealth Blvd.

Ann Arbor, MI 48105

internet address: mccormick@glerl.noaa.gov

1. INTRODUCTION

Water temperature data from several sites around the Great Lakes were obtained to determine if any

regional climatic changes or trends could be detected based upon these data sets. The study was partially

supported by the NOAA Office of Global Programs. Site selection was based upon location and reasonable data access.

This technical memorandum contains data for Erie, PA from 1916-1992. Water temperature data are

from Erie, Pennsylvania's Chestnut Street plant. The plant superintendent, Mr. John Presogna, facilitated

data collation by arranging for some of his staff to enter the data into a computer compatible format.

Data are available from 1916 to 1992. However, no data are available for 1956. A 60” pipe extends

about 1.25 miles offshore from the Chestnut Street plant; the intake depth is 27-30' below the surface.

Originally, the intake pipe was located in the Bay, but a new pipe was built in the early part of this

century because of water quality concerns with respect to cholera. In 1908, the pipe was tunneled under

the peninsula that forms the bay.

Water temperatures are taken in the plant six times a week (never on Sunday) between 08:00 and

09:00 h. However, this was not the case for 1959-1963 and 1979-1981 when significantly more data

were available. The data are plotted and shown in the accompanying figures. Prior to final plotting all

data were checked for consistency, and all questionable values were deleted All missing data are

denoted by -999.

Data files are identified as TM094Dxx.edt where xx identifies the data year. Data are organized into

four columns: month, day, year, and temperature. Although the data are reported to the nearest 0.1oC, a

more reasonable estimate of their accuracy is 0.5oC given all the uncertainties with the raw data.

All data are available in a simple ASCII format. The data files are available from GLERL’s WWW

site or from the anonymous FTP site. From the GLERL home page (www.glerl.noaa.gov), select FTP

server, or point your browser to: ftp://ftp.glerl.noaa.gov/publications/tech_reports/glerl-94.

Although great care has been used in checking these data, mistakes may still be present. If errors

are found, please contact the author at mccormick@glerl.noaa.gov.
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50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 226

Erie, PA 1916

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 296

Erie, PA 1917

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 299

Erie, PA 1918

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 300

Erie, PA 1919

Julian Day
5

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 305

Erie, PA 1920

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 298

Erie, PA 1921

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 301

Erie, PA 1922

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 301

Erie, PA 1923

Julian Day
6

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 306

Erie, PA 1924

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 302

Erie, PA 1925

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 303

Erie, PA 1926

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 301

Erie, PA 1927

Julian Day
7

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 303

Erie, PA 1928

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 295

Erie, PA 1929

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 307

Erie, PA 1930

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 302

Erie, PA 1931

Julian Day
8

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 306

Erie, PA 1932

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 304

Erie, PA 1933

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 304

Erie, PA 1934

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 305

Erie, PA 1935

Julian Day
9

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 303

Erie, PA 1936

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 307

Erie, PA 1937

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 305

Erie, PA 1938

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 305

Erie, PA 1939

Julian Day
10

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 307

Erie, PA 1940

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 304

Erie, PA 1941

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 303

Erie, PA 1942

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 307

Erie, PA 1943

Julian Day
11

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 305

Erie, PA 1944

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 306

Erie, PA 1945

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 307

Erie, PA 1946

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 307

Erie, PA 1947

Julian Day
12

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 308

Erie, PA 1948

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 307

Erie, PA 1949

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 300

Erie, PA 1950

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 307

Erie, PA 1951

Julian Day
13

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 308

Erie, PA 1952

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 302

Erie, PA 1953

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 306

Erie, PA 1954

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 305

Erie, PA 1955

Julian Day
14

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 302

Erie, PA 1957

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 309

Erie, PA 1958

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 338

Erie, PA 1959

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 364

Erie, PA 1960

Julian Day
15

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 362

Erie, PA 1961

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 360

Erie, PA 1962

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 324

Erie, PA 1963

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 240

Erie, PA 1964

Julian Day
16

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 232

Erie, PA 1965

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 255

Erie, PA 1966

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 245

Erie, PA 1967

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 253

Erie, PA 1968

Julian Day
17

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 252

Erie, PA 1969

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 253

Erie, PA 1970

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 251

Erie, PA 1971

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 251

Erie, PA 1972

Julian Day
18

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 253

Erie, PA 1973

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 248

Erie, PA 1974

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 252

Erie, PA 1975

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 251

Erie, PA 1976

Julian Day
19

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 252

Erie, PA 1977

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 250

Erie, PA 1978

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 361

Erie, PA 1979

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 361

Erie, PA 1980

Julian Day
20

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 317

Erie, PA 1981

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 307

Erie, PA 1982

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 305

Erie, PA 1983

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 305

Erie, PA 1984

Julian Day
21

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 304

Erie, PA 1985

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 296

Erie, PA 1986

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 296

Erie, PA 1987

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 304

Erie, PA 1988

Julian Day
22

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 294

Erie, PA 1989

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 295

Erie, PA 1990

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 286

Erie, PA 1991

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 255

Erie, PA 1992

Julian Day