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Harmful Algal Bloom Ends With “Relatively Mild” Season On Lake Erie

Algae bloom in Lake Erie, 2017
Great Lakes Today file photo
Algae bloom in Lake Erie, 2017

Lake Erie’s harmful algae bloom season is over for the year, and it wasn’t as bad as scientists expected.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranks this year’s algae bloom as relatively mild, a 3.6 on the agency’s bloom severity scale. That’s compared to an eight last year.

The forecast in July predicted the bloom would be significant – a six.

NOAA says the bloom started unusually early this year after Lake Erie started warming up in May. But a September storm created strong winds over Lake Erie that “disrupted the bloom,” and it was over by the first week of October.

There were still areas of green, paint-like scum on the waters of western Lake Erie, but they were nothing like last year’s bloom that drew national coverage and hurt Lake Erie tourism.

NOAA says researchers will review the possible reasons why the agency overestimated this year’s bloom.

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Reporter/producer Elizabeth Miller joined ideastream after a stint at NPR headquarters in Washington D.C., where she served as an intern on the National Desk, pitching stories about everything from a gentrified Brooklyn deli to an app for lost dogs. Before that, she covered weekend news at WAKR in Akron and interned at WCBE, a Columbus NPR affiliate. Elizabeth grew up in Columbus before moving north to attend Baldwin Wallace, where she graduated with a degree in broadcasting and mass communications.