Buckeye Reporter

The mainly wet weather pattern in early spring caused the flow of water systems within the Western Lake Erie Basin to be above normal in March and April, creating what is considered a "mildly severe" algal bloom forecast by NOAA. The 2024 algal bloom is expected to have a severity index of 5, according to the final forecast from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA). This forecast, based on a 1 to 10 scale, uses an ensemble of different models, which consider phosphorus loading into Lake Erie during the spring and early summer.