Record St. Clair River Ice Jam of 1984
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 112, Issue 12
Abstract
The record St. Clair River ice jam of April 1984 produced major impacts on the levels and flows of the Great Lakes, and on navigation throughout the system. Following the onset of the jam, Lake St. Clair water levels dropped about 0.6 m as the inflow was decreased by the jam. At the peak of the jam the flows were reduced by approximately 65%. The jam had a duration of 24 days. Following the jam breaking on April 29, 1984, the waters of Lake St. Clair rose rapidly, recovering approximately 75% of the drop in levels in four days. Computer simulations indicate that it will take about a year for most and at least 3 years for all the excess water stored in Lakes Michigan and Huron during the jam to be dissipated and for levels in those lakes (and Lakes St. Clair and Erie, downstream) to return to prejam conditions.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Derecki, J. A. and Kelley, R. N. (1981). “Improved St. Clair River dynamics flow models and comparison analysis.” NOAA Tech. Memo. ERL GLERL‐34.
2.
Quinn, F. H. (1978). “Hydrologic response model of the North American Great Lakes.” J. Hydrol., 37, 295–307.
3.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (1984). Annex O to the St. Clair River ice jam report. Dept. of the Army, Corps of Engrs., Detroit District, Great Lakes Hydraul. and Hydrol. Branch, Detroit, Mich.
4.
Waymire, D. (1984). “Early Great Lakes shipping helped cause massive ice jam, report says.” The Ann Arbor News, Aug. 21, A12.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 ASCE.
History
Published online: Dec 1, 1986
Published in print: Dec 1986
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.