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232 waterspouts/funnels have been confirmed over the Great Lakes from September 28 to October 4, 2020, in the second world record waterspout outbreak of the year, according to the International Center for Waterspout Research (ICWR). From August 16 to 19, 2020, a short-lived waterspout outbreak produced 88 funnels, setting a new world record waterspout outbreak -- the first of the year. Both outbreaks were a result of Canadian cold air sweeping over the region, which made surface air prone to rise. "There were an average of 33 per day," said ICWR director Wade Szilagyi, also a meteorologist at Environment Canada....

Water levels on Lake Ontario have reached the highest point in recorded history, putting the Toronto Islands at risk of significant flooding. Current levels have reached 76.03 metres above sea level, topping the previous record of 75.93 metres which was set in 2017 when the islands were inundated with water. Ferry service to Hanlan's Point has been suspended and the area around Gibraltar Point has been closed off as a result. Worse, strong winds are expected on Thursday afternoon, something that could lead to "significant wave action," local Coun. Joe Cressy warned. "This is a difficult time for local residents,...

“Great Lakes ice is now running ahead of last year and ice will increase with more brutal cold coming,” says meteorologist Joe d’Aleo. “We are likely to have the most ice since records began.” “By the end of February the entire country east of the Rockies will have averaged below normal,” says d’Aleo. “Boston will have either the coldest or second coldest month in their history. It is nearly 13F below normal in Cleveland and all points east for February. Boston has the second most snow for the season and is very likely to be the snowiest ever by the...

According to NOAA's Great Lakes Surface Environment Analysis (GLSEA) the record for total Great Lakes ice coverage was set in 1979 with 94.7% coverage. Last year's winter almost broke that record with 92.2% and is currently sitting in second place. Just a few days ago the ice coverage sat at 60%. Today that number has jumped to 76.6% based on yesterday's analysis due the recent cold the area has been receiving. Their forecast for the next 24 hours is for that coverage to jump to 82.3%. This is within 10% of second place. Some long range weather forecasts I have...

More than 4,700 square miles of ice formed over the Great Lakes in just one night on Tuesday. The Arctic blast that swept the Midwest and Northeast saw a near-record amount of Lake Ontario was iced over, with just 20 per cent of open water left. Overall 82 percent of the five water bodies sealed up. Temperatures are expected to drop again on Thursday night, leading forecasters to predict that figure to climb significantly by Friday morning.

The Siberian Express that’s imported northern Russia’s weather into North America is leading to a second year of fast-growing ice cover on the Great Lakes, setting up the Chicago area for the possibility of another cool spring. By Wednesday, the Great Lakes were 85.4 percent ice-covered, just above the 85.2 percent on Feb. 18 last year, according to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. With below-average temperatures predicted for at least the next week, the lakes could approach last year’s levels of 92.5 percent ice cover, the second-highest level since records began in the early 1970s.

The ice on Lake Ontario sparkles in the afternoon winter sun. “Come over here,” beckons Tyler Hnatuk. “I’ve found a perfect spot.” Alec Farquhar, his wife Kathleen McDonnell and I pivot on our skates and speed north. Ahead of us, across the frozen lake, bristle Toronto’s towers. Our skates bounce on bumpy patches and slow down over snow drifts. We come to open, smooth ice, longer than many rinks. We glide to and fro, swirling and smiling and enjoying the great outdoors. Some in Toronto complain when the thermometer dips to -26C, as it did outside my kitchen window Friday...

Ever since Asian carp were accidentally introduced into U.S. rivers in the 1970s, the invasive fish have been hungrily making their way to the Great Lakes, causing residents of the watershed to dread the arrival of carp in delicate Lake ecosystems, and their potential impacts on the 7 billion dollar fishing industry that represents a major economic driver for the region. Now, a new study suggests that Asian carp have breached southern Lake Michigan, although they have not yet arrived in numbers great enough to devastate native ecosystems. Scientists at Notre Dame University, Southern Michigan University, and The Nature Conservancy...

Waterport/Carlton, NY - A group of worshippers at a mosque in Waterport say they've been targets of violence over the last several days. They gave statements to authorities Tuesday morning. Now, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office confirms that at least one person will be arraigned in the Town of Colton for a hate crime -- disrupting a religious service, and shooting a gun. According to Jacob Zimmerman, member of the World Sufi Foundation,

ONTARIO — Three men were charged Saturday with second-degree reckless endangerment after shots were fired — apparently with an AK-47 — on Lake Road and Ontario Center Road. State police found shell casings from ammunition used for an AK-47 about two-tenths of a mile from Robert E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant property. But State Police Investigator Jeff Miller said no connection had been found between the gunfire and the plant.

Ontario, Wayne County)- State Police in Wayne County arrested three men Saturday after reports of gun shots heard near the Ginna nuclear power plant in the town of Ontario. Police say the shots were fired on Ontario Center road around 4:50 a.m. Troopers say they stopped a car in the area and found an AK-47 rifle in the trunk.

NORTH ROSE – A Wolcott fruit grower is accusing the U.S. Border Patrol of racially profiling four of his workers who were stopped on Route 414 Aug. 17 as they were returning to his farm from a trip to purchase clothing. The men were all detained and taken for processing; Border Patrol Officer E. Rodriguez, who was in charge of the scene, told fruit grower Brian Doyle the men volunteered they were in the U.S. illegally. Doyle said Rodriguez then accused him of being a “federal criminal” because he employed the men. He said Rodriguez continually referred to the men...

The Bush administration in 2002 considered sending U.S. troops into a Buffalo, New York, suburb to arrest a group of terror suspects, the New York Times reported. WASHINGTON - The Bush administration in 2002 considered sending U.S. troops into a Buffalo, New York, suburb to arrest a group of terror suspects in what would have been a nearly unprecedented use of military power within the United States, The New York Times reported. Vice President Dick Cheney and several other Bush advisers at the time strongly urged that the military be used to apprehend men who were suspected of plotting with...

RED CREEK - The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Homeland Security, at the request of Wayne County District Attorney Richard Healy, are investigating posts on the Wayne County Star’s website that purport to have been made from U.S. Border Patrol/Homeland Security computers. There were three posts showing different Border Patrol/Homeland Security Internet Protocol addresses in response to a story on the Star’s website about a June 12 Border Patrol detention of Mexican nationals on Lake Ontario. One post pretended to be from a woman with a Mexican boyfriend; the other two posts insinuated the boat had come from...

FARGO, N.D. – After two failed tries, an unmanned aircraft expected to be the first to patrol the northern U.S. border completed a flight from Arizona to North Dakota. U.S Customs and Border Protection officials said the Predator B drone touched down Saturday at the Grand Forks Air Force Base after a six-hour flight from Libby Army Airfield in Sierra Vista, Ariz.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A 22-gun British warship that sank during the American Revolution and has long been regarded as one of the "Holy Grail" shipwrecks in the Great Lakes has been discovered at the bottom of Lake Ontario, astonishingly well-preserved in the cold, deep water, explorers announced Friday.

This handout image from video released Friday, June 13, 2008 by Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville, shows the crows nest and foremast of the sunken 228-year-old British warship HMS Ontario, a British warship built in1780 that has been discovered in deep water off the southern shore of Lake Ontario. Kennard and Scoville used side scanning sonar and an unmanned submersible to locate the HMS Ontario, which was lost with barely a trace and as many as 130 people on board during a gale in 1780. (AP Photo/ courtesy of Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville) SYRACUSE — A 22-gun British...

By Ann Shibler Published: 2008-04-07 New "anti-terrorism" rules ordered up by DHS for those who fish the Great Lakes are causing a wave of dissent. While still leaving our southern border wide open, the northern border will be protected by stricter security rules heavily enforced by the DHS, particularly for those tall-tale-telling anglers. Follow this link to the original source: "Going fishing? Pack your passport" COMMENTARY: Starting with the 2008 charter fishing season on the Great Lakes, and particularly impacting Lake Erie because of its geography and popularity among anglers, fishermen will now have to have their passports or two...

By Judi McLeod Tuesday, March 25, 2008 In an effort to provide them a fair trial, the Canadian government is seeking a limited publication ban on the identities of the adults charged with belonging to the so-called “Toronto 18” group. The identity of the youth charged with belonging to a homegrown terror cell is already protected under the Young Criminal Justice Act. The trial for the youth gets underway in a Brampton court today. Almost unheard of since they were nabbed in a foiled undercover operation to kidnap and behead members of Parliament, among other things on June 2, 2006,...

Residents of the nearby town of Mexico see 5- to 6-foot snowfalls every two or three years, but this time even hardened locals are amazed. The only signs of parked SUVs are their radio antennas or roof racks sticking up above the snow. Front doors are buried and footprints lead to second-story windows. Sidewalks that have been dug out look like miniature canyons. The state transportation department said 125 workers from elsewhere in the state had been sent in with snow equipment to help. The region is located along the Tug Hill Plateau, the snowiest region this side of the...