Lake Michigan Visitors Battling Weather and E-Coli for 4th

Annual Fireworks Display Will Probably Be Cancelled

It is the 4th of July and most people are awaiting their viewing of traditional fireworks. Some folks that probably won't be having a traditional beach fireworks display will be Lake Michigan visitors.

Lake Michigan has greeted visitors with two "seiches," or dramatic fluctuations of depth and currents such as riptides, according to the Associated Press. Lake Michigan has experienced completely flooded beaches driving would-be visitors from its shores. The two seiches have caused depth changes up to a foot deeper.

An additional problem for people who are trying to gravitate to the annual site of festivities is the weather. Temperatures are around 59 degrees in Michigan and 61 degrees in Chicago. Over the years they have gotten cooler. This is an interesting phenomenon of cooler weather this summer everwhere.

The Chicago Park District does not predict a good turnout this year. In addition to the temperatures, freezing winds are blowing off the lake.

There were, of course, some veteran visitors who stuck to the popular lakefront but even they were shooed away when the National Weather Service gauged a fast-moving storm that ultimately passed but still impacted Lake Michigan.

Perhaps the problem wouldn't be so bad except there is a "Catch-22" involved. Recently Lake Michigan has been hosting the dreaded E-coli organism. The Ecological Research in Porter, Indiana has indicated that it appears that as long as the water temperature remains where it is now the E-coli organism will probably be stymied from any growth. However, should the lake temperature rise even five degrees (still too cold to swim), the dangerous E-coli threat could become very, very serious.

It would appear that there truly will be no 4th of July fireworks on the beach. Typically the beach draws about a million people each year; not so for 2008. The chilly weather, winds, water dangers and possibility of serious illness don't make for an exciting holiday experience.