Photo Courtesy: Anjanette Riley/Illinois-Indiana Sea GrantMeteorologists,
boaters and beach goers will now be able to get a better look at conditions on
Lake Michigan.
Purdue
University's Department of Civil Engineering and the
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant launched a buoy off Michigan City on September 4th.
It's located about 4 miles offshore. It provides data like wind speeds and
water temperature at 10 minute increments. It also provides webcam images.
The
buoy is the first of its kind in Indiana
waters. "There are not many observations out on the lake itself, and for a
long time we only had a single buoy that was 50 miles north of Michigan
City," said John Taylor, a meteorologist with the National
Weather Service in Northern Indiana. "The
more information we have for near-shore areas the better," Taylor said in a release.
The
buoy will be in place from April 1 to November 1 each year.
