Great Lakes Forecast
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
839 FZUS63 KMKX 180850 GLFLM OPEN LAKE FORECAST for Lake Michigan National Weather Service Milwaukee/Sullivan WI 350 AM CDT Sat Jul 18 2026 FOR WATERS BEYOND FIVE NAUTICAL MILES OF SHORE ON Lake Michigan. Waves are provided as a range of significant wave heights, which is the average of the highest 1/3 of the wave, along with the average height of the highest 10% of the waves which will occasionally be encountered. .SYNOPSIS... Areas of smoke will continue over the north half of the lake tonight. Otherwise breezy southwest to west winds will develop ahead of a cold front. The low pressure area around 29.7 inches will track from just north of Lake Superior early this morning. Then continues across southern Quebec this afternoon and deepen to 29.4 inches. Its trailing cold front will track from northern Lake Michigan Saturday morning to far southern Lake Michigan by early afternoon. Smoke will return to Lake Michigan behind the cold front and may become dense once again. Wildfire smoke is expected to reduce visilibites to 1 NM at times, thus a Marine Dense Smoke Advisory is in effect across the Lake. Breezy northerly winds are forecast behind the cold front and will linger into this evening. Winds then quickly taper tonight, as high pressure around 30.1 inches moves over the northern Great Lakes. Northeast to light and variable winds are then expected through Sunday into Sunday night. Gusty south to southwest winds may then develop Monday into Monday night, with gusty west to northwest winds possible into the middle of next week. LMZ261-362-364-366-563-565-567-868-181515- Lake Michigan from Seul Choix Point to Rock Island Passage 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan South of a line from Seul Choix Point to the Mackinac Bridge and north of a line from Charlevoix MI to South Fox Island 5 NM offshore- Lake Michigan from Charlevoix to Point Betsie MI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from Point Betsie to Manistee MI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from Rock Island Passage to Sturgeon Bay WI- Lake Michigan from Sturgeon Bay to Two Rivers WI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from Two Rivers to Sheboygan WI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from Pentwater to Manistee MI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- 350 AM CDT Sat Jul 18 2026 SHEBOYGAN WI TO PENTWATER MI NORTH... ...DENSE SMOKE ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 7 AM CDT MONDAY... .TODAY...Northwest winds 15 to 25 kt becoming north to 30 kt. Patchy smoke. Waves 4 to 6 ft occasionally to 8 ft. .TONIGHT...North winds to 30 kt becoming northeast 10 to 15 kt. Smoke. Waves 4 to 6 ft occasionally to 8 ft subsiding to 2 to 4 ft. .SUNDAY...Northeast winds 5 to 10 kt becoming east late in the morning, then veering to southwest early in the afternoon becoming 10 to 20 kt late. Areas of smoke. Waves 1 to 3 ft subsiding to 1 to 2 ft. .SUNDAY NIGHT...South winds 10 to 20 kt becoming southwest 15 to 25 kt. Areas of smoke in the evening. Waves 1 to 2 ft building to 2 to 4 ft. .MONDAY...Southwest winds to 30 kt increasing to gales to 35 kt. Showers likely in the afternoon. Waves 4 to 6 ft occasionally to 8 ft building to 6 to 9 ft occasionally to 12 ft. .MONDAY NIGHT...Southwest gales to 35 kt becoming west to 30 kt. Showers with a chance of thunderstorms. Waves 6 to 9 ft occasionally to 12 ft. .TUESDAY...Northwest winds to 30 kt increasing to gales to 35 kt. Waves 5 to 8 ft occasionally to 10 ft. .WEDNESDAY...Northwest gales to 35 kt becoming north. Waves 7 to 10 ft occasionally to 13 ft subsiding to 6 to 9 ft occasionally to 12 ft. $$ LMZ080-669-671-673-675-777-779-870-872-874-876-878-181515- Lake Michigan from Michigan City IN to St. Joseph MI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from Sheboygan to Port Washington WI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from Port Washington to North Point Light WI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from North Point Light to Wind Point WI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from Wind Point WI to Winthrop Harbor IL 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from Winthrop Harbor to Wilmette Harbor IL 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from Wilmette Harbor IL to Michigan City IN 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from Whitehall to Pentwater MI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from Grand Haven to Whitehall MI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from Holland to Grand Haven MI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from South Haven to Holland MI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- Lake Michigan from St. Joseph to South Haven MI 5 NM offshore to Mid Lake- 350 AM CDT Sat Jul 18 2026 SHEBOYGAN WI TO PENTWATER MI SOUTH... ...DENSE SMOKE ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 7 AM CDT MONDAY... .TODAY...West winds 15 to 25 kt veering to north to 30 kt. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms this morning, then chance of showers and slight chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. Patchy smoke this afternoon. Waves 3 to 5 ft building to 4 to 6 ft occasionally to 8 ft. .TONIGHT...North winds to 30 kt becoming northeast 10 to 20 kt. Areas of smoke. Waves 4 to 7 ft occasionally to 9 ft subsiding to 4 to 6 ft occasionally to 8 ft. .SUNDAY...Northeast winds 10 to 15 kt backing to northwest. Areas of smoke. Waves 3 to 5 ft subsiding to 1 to 2 ft. .SUNDAY NIGHT...Southeast winds 10 to 15 kt becoming south 10 to 20 kt. Areas of smoke in the evening. Waves 1 to 3 ft. .MONDAY...South winds 15 to 25 kt increasing to 30 kt. Chance of showers in the afternoon. Waves 3 to 5 ft building to 5 to 8 ft occasionally to 10 ft. .MONDAY NIGHT...Southwest winds to 30 kt. Showers likely with a chance of thunderstorms. Waves 6 to 9 ft occasionally to 12 ft. .TUESDAY...Northwest winds to 30 kt increasing to gales to 35 kt. Waves 5 to 8 ft occasionally to 10 ft. .WEDNESDAY...North gales to 35 kt. Waves 8 to 12 ft occasionally to 16 ft subsiding to 8 to 11 ft occasionally to 14 ft. $$ LMZ761-181515- MAFOR 1810/ MICHIGAN NORTH 11630 11730 11830 12840 11830 11820 11110. Waves 2 to 4 feet building to 3 to 5 feet today. Waves 3 to 6 feet subsiding to 1 to 3 feet tonight. MICHIGAN SOUTH 12630 11730 13840 11130 11120. A chance of showers this afternoon. Waves 2 to 4 feet building to 3 to 6 feet today. Waves 3 to 6 feet tonight. $$ Patterson Experimental modernized open lake forecast is available online at weather.gov/mkx/glftable Graphical marine forecasts are available online at: weather.gov/greatlakes