Last of the River Ice at Argo Pond

Most everything has melted now, but here is a nice characterization of the complete ice cover of the Huron River in late February. It was thick enough that someone cleared a patch to ice skate on, which leads all the way across the Argo Pond to the NEW Center. Very impressive ice cover.

© Dawn Nelson 2025
 

The Huron River Days

I've kept a pretty good journal of several observation spots along the Huron River bend along Depot Street in north Ann Arbor for several years now. Sometimes I lose steam on recording via video, but I am determined to finish a solid collection by the end of this year.

It will be my contribution to the natural features inventory for this area.

I am entering a new era of my life, and this year may hold some big changes.

We shall see. 

In the meantime, I will persevere in the diligence of these chronicles.

This latest one is the Argo Dam on the north side of Ann Arbor on one of the very coldest days of the year (January 16, 2024). The water seemed particularly high on this day, as I am sure the data will bear.

Cheers!

The Huron River Lately

 

One of my first compilation videos, beginning at the Broadway Bridge and along the river to the Canal Street water gage station. 

Snow on the banks of the river

Yet another Huron River lately... the snowstorm made for some beautiful winter landscapes. 

The rain has already washed away the snow, however, so these moments were fleeting: 

© Dawn Nelson 2022. All Rights Reserved.

The Huron River Lately

Recently I thought about my proximity to the river differently. I decided to journey just a bit further north to the docks on Lakeshore Drive and was not disappointed. The platform that juts out into the river makes for excellent immersion into blue space and it was precisely what I needed. 

I had also recently contemplated the notion that even if some of my observations are just a bit further up the river, the USGS monitoring station at Canal Street is still relevant.

So I shall continue my exploration.

Though it is just a small stretch, there remains so much to reveal and interpret.

Graciously, I accept, and I am honored to be the steadfast observer. 

---

© Dawn Nelson, 2022

River walking

 

© Dawn Nelson, all rights reserved.

the Huron River lately

A lovely sunny Tuesday afternoon revealed an unexpected and delightful walk by the riverside. Funny how just yesterday it was snowing gigantic snowflakes.

A large snowflake day. April 4, 2022. 

I've been experimenting with writing on Medium and have started to develop a longform content series I am currently calling the 0100 series. It seems to be unearthing a fair amount of narrative from me on weather obs, so I imagine I will revise some of these posts for longer form essays here on my beloved Lake Poet blog. I'm finding that it really helps to give myself creative license to experiment with different platforms to see what works and what kind of writing it inspires me to cultivate. It's funny how a lot of this kind of writing I would do offline, now I just write and put it out there as I will, caution to the wind. So be it.

The sun is shining.

The Huron River on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. April 5, 2022.

© Dawn Nelson, 2022

Fast

The river was moving pretty fast so I decided to stop by a take a quick video near Canal Street (1310 cfs streamflow at 17:00 today). This time I stood right next to the USGS water monitoring station. The little concrete dock is no longer used, but the fancier model is tucked away in the shed mid-video.

Huron River at Canal Street, USGS station #04174500.

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 © Dawn Nelson, 2022.

Meteorological Spring

 

The meteorological spring begins today. The river is kind of high, but still lower than what it has been for several weeks. Pictured here is the Huron River at the Argo Dam in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Supposedly it was almost 50 degrees Fahrenheit but the wind chill begged to differ. Still, it was a good noon on a Tuesday walkabout!

50 miles to Lake Erie

Just a short jaunt to Lake Erie from here. When I am out in the global work environment, I tell folks I am from the Lake Erie region. This is an essence of where I am from.

Traver Creek

I realize that I seldom chat about the creek part of the watershed so often featured on this blog. I found a nice spot today just north of the Huron River very near the Canal Street site, called Plymouth Park. 

Alongside this park is a lovely stretch of the Traver Creek. I particularly love this short video segment because you can hear children laughing. 

Perhaps there is a lovely spot of sanctuary somewhere nearby you are overlooking as well? 

Huron River at Canal Street

Quick capture this afternoon because the water is high and moving quickly today (909 cfs at 11am EDT):

Rainbow over Lake Erie

 A rainbow over Lake Erie today, and

A fast and high river in Flat Rock:

and at Canal Street in Ann Arbor:

Fast River

Just a quick note to note that the river was moving even faster today, although I didn't go look at it so no pictures or video today. 711 cubic feet per second (cfs) at 11:15 a.m. EDT, which is almost twice as fast as what it's been lately. Appears to have topped out at 755 cfs today, close in competition to the spike from the major rain on March 25-26. 

USGS gauge site data - river flow (discharge) measured in cubic feet per second

the Canal Street lately

Definitely a windy day out there today and of course I forgot my anemometer

I mean really 

who does that?

 It's a fast moving river with high winds from the west today.

Finally some rain!

Finally got a whopping 1.13 inches of rain yesterday and (mostly) last night. It's been fairly dry now for almost a month so it was a nice surprise this morning when I checked the rain gauge. I ventured a short trip over to the Huron River near Gallup Park and found a new spot on the south bank. Nothing much going on except the usual, ducks and geese and trumpeter swans and the like. It's becoming something of a series, this Huron River lately.

Creek to River

This is the creek and river I keep talking about

Dove into map madness this morning. 

Still trying to pull myself up and out of it but I thought I'd take a moment to share a map of the creek and river I keep talking about. The creek is the one that roughly follows the train tracks to the upper right. The Canal Street gauge site is at the bottom of the tiny triangle.

(Map snippet from the online interactive viewer at MapWashtenaw)

Ye olde Argo Dam

I just came back from an early afternoon walk by the Argo Dam. I realized it's been quite a while since my last gallivant in this direction. Things have changed!

and of course a snapshot from my favorite river bank near Canal Street:

water flow cubic feet per second

river gage height at Canal Street site

The river collection

This is the latest in my river collection 

and Canal Street connection.

The Huron River at the Canal Street site in Ann Arbor where most of the 'river near Canal Street' videos are taken is about 150 feet upriver from a USGS river gage site. 

So basically this is the water about to be logged.

As you can see the water flow this week spiked right around the ice out dates I logged for March 2-4 and then steadily decreased. It is also notably below average water levels for this time of year.

the original flow chart

river height March 1-8 at Canal street site

Where waters meet

It was um, cold out there today mostly because of the wind chill. Still *technically* above freezing, but there were a few more car side photos taken this time around. This one I snapped while standing on a tall park bench to get a better view over the rocky shoreline.

Detroit River, facing Canada, moments before it meets the sea

Pointe Mouillee is where the Huron River lets out into Lake Erie. This short recording shows the vantage point from the Pointe Mouillee Marsh DNR Headquarters.

A view of Pointe Mouillee marsh from Hull's Trace landing

What is lovely about this region is that it is where three waters meet. The Huron River and the Detroit River (actually a strait) each flow into Lake Erie in roughly a five mile area. It makes it feel like there is a whole lot going on. 

And while breathing the cool fresh air is a nice change from being inside all winter, I am definitely looking forward to much warmer temperatures, arriving hopefully as soon as the day after tomorrow.