Lake Michigan and Huron Operational Forecast System (LMHOFS)

(Please click on the map pins below to access the time series plots)

The Lake Michigan and Huron Operational Forecast System (LMHOFS) was jointly developed by NOAA/National Ocean Service's (NOS) Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) and Office of Coast Survey (OCS), the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), the NOAA/National Weather Service's (NWS) National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) National Central Operations (NCO), and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.

LMHOFS uses the Finite Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM), coupled with an unstructured grid version of the Los Alamos Sea Ice model (CICE), to provide users with higher resolution of nowcast (analyses of near present) and forecast guidance of water levels, currents, water temperature, ice concentration, ice thickness and ice velocity out to 120 hours, four times per day. By combining Lake Michigan and Lake Huron into one model grid and invoking advanced model schemes and algorithms, LMHOFS is expected to generate a more accurate model output than the former LMOFS and LHOFS, which have separate model domains based on the Princeton Ocean Model (POM). Please note that CO-OPS is distributing ice-related products only in a digital NetCDF format. No graphical products are provided.

The NWS and NOS work together to run LMHOFS operationally on NOAA's High Performance Computing System (HPCS). By running on NOAA's HPCS, LMHOFS has direct access to National Weather Service operational meteorological products that are required for reliable operations.

For more information about LMHOFS, please click here.

For more information about FVCOM, please click here.

Disclaimer:
The Lake Michigan and Huron Operational Forecast System (LMHOFS) has been implemented by NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS) to provide the maritime user community with short-term predictions of water levels, water currents, and water temperatures of the Lake Michigan and Huron. LMHOFS uses a numerical hydrodynamic model to generate the nowcast and forecast information; therefore, they should be considered as model-generated nowcast and forecast guidance. For more detailed information related to the OFS disclaimer, please visit at the Disclaimers web page.

During extreme weather conditions, water level forecast guidance data are released for public utility and should be used with appropriate caution.