At Nov 9, 6:42 a.m. EST the NOAA gauges read 173.85 m at Toledo (west end) and 174.27 m at Buffalo (east end), in metres above IGLD 1985. The east end is 42 cm higher: wind is piling water against that shore. Averaged over 2026-11-08, the two gauges stood 11 cm above the November long-term average of 174.03 m.
Toledo at the west end and Buffalo at the east end, on Erie’s long axis. When the two lines pull apart the wind is tilting the lake; repeated swings after the wind drops are a seiche. Six-minute readings from NOAA, preliminary until NOAA verifies them; times in Ontario time.
The mean of each full day at each gauge, worked out on this site from NOAA’s six-minute readings, against the November long-term average (1918–2025).
Gauges on the US shore, run by NOAA. Fairport is the gauge NOAA GLERL lists as Lake Erie’s master gauge, near the middle of the south shore, so seiche swings there are small.
| Gauge | Where | Latest (m, IGLD 1985) | 24 h | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toledo (9063085) | west end | 173.851 | −0.13 m | Nov 9, 6:42 a.m. EST |
| Buffalo (9063020) | east end | 174.271 | +0.04 m | Nov 9, 6:42 a.m. EST |
| Fairport (9063053) | master gauge, south shore | 174.202 | +0.01 m | Nov 9, 6:42 a.m. EST |
The gauges on the Canadian shore are run by the Canadian Hydrographic Service of Fisheries and Oceans Canada; we link to their pages rather than reproduce their data: Kingsville, Erieau, Port Stanley, Port Dover, Port Colborne, Bar Point (Detroit River mouth).
Lake-wide monthly means for 1918–2025, from the coordinated Canada–US series published by NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL). The averages and records are worked out on this site from that series. Levels in metres above IGLD 1985.
| Month | Long-term average (m) | Record high (m) | Record low (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 174.03 | 174.86 (1987) | 173.21 (1935) |
| February | 174.03 | 174.90 (2020) | 173.18 (1935 and 1936) |
| March | 174.11 | 174.95 (2020) | 173.20 (1934) |
| April | 174.26 | 175.05 (2020) | 173.38 (1934) |
| May | 174.34 | 175.08 (2020) | 173.44 (1934) |
| June | 174.37 | 175.14 (2019) | 173.45 (1934) |
| July | 174.36 | 175.13 (2019) | 173.45 (1934) |
| August | 174.29 | 175.02 (2019) | 173.43 (1934) |
| September | 174.20 | 174.87 (2019) | 173.38 (1934) |
| October | 174.10 | 174.94 (1986) | 173.30 (1934) |
| November (now) | 174.03 | 174.85 (1986) | 173.20 (1934) |
| December | 174.02 | 174.89 (1986) | 173.19 (1934) |
Highest monthly mean on record: 175.14 m, June 2019. Lowest: 173.18 m, February 1935 and February 1936. Chart datum is 173.50 m.
NOAA GLERL’s coordinated lake-wide series gives Lake Erie a provisional mean of 174.36 m for September 2026: 16 cm above the September average for 1918–2025 (174.20 m) and 15 cm above September 2025 (174.21 m).
The coordinated six-month forecast range, prepared by Environment and Climate Change Canada and the US Army Corps of Engineers and published on NOAA GLERL’s Great Lakes Dashboard, puts the October 2026 lake-wide mean between 174.10 and 174.32 m, against an October average of 174.10 m, and February 2027 between 173.82 and 174.44 m, against a February average of 174.03 m.
Every number on this page is an elevation in metres above the International Great Lakes Datum of 1985 (IGLD 1985), the shared Canada–U.S. height reference for the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence. The Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) explains that its zero is tied to mean water level at Rimouski, Quebec, and that it replaced IGLD 1955 in January 1992. Lake Erie’s chart datum, also called Low Water Datum, is 173.50 m on that scale, and NOAA defines it as the surface from which charted depths are measured. Subtract 173.50 from a reading and you have the water standing above charted depth. NOAA says IGLD 1985 is being replaced by IGLD (2020), with a tentative release in 2027, and that chart datums could be revised as part of the update. The live readings come from NOAA gauges that log a three-minute average every six minutes.
Lake Erie is not regulated. The International Niagara Board of Control states that it does not regulate the lake’s level or outflow; the control works above Niagara Falls only adjust the Chippawa–Grass Island Pool. Water leaves naturally down the Niagara River, and the Welland Canal also carries water from Erie to Lake Ontario. An International Joint Commission fact sheet puts the combined effect of the Welland Canal and the other major Great Lakes diversions at about 10 cm off Lake Erie’s average level. Inside a year, the CHS says Erie usually peaks in June and is lowest in February, with an average seasonal swing of about 0.5 m. Over longer spans there is no regular cycle: runs of wet or dry years push all the lakes up or down, which is why the record highs cluster in 1986–87 and 2019–20 and the record lows in 1934–36.
A seiche is a standing wave: wind or a pressure change pushes water to one end of a basin and it rocks back and forth after the push stops. NOAA notes that Lake Erie is known for seiches, especially when strong winds blow from the southwest toward the northeast. The CHS explains that the slope is greatest when a strong wind blows along a long, shallow lake for a long time. It reports end-to-end differences of more than 5 m on shallow Lake Erie, while surges on deep Lake Ontario rarely exceed 0.5 m. A southwest gale lowers Toledo and raises Buffalo; NWS Cleveland notes that sustained east or northeast winds do the reverse and raise the western basin. Once the wind eases, the water can keep oscillating; NOAA says the time between a seiche’s high and low on the Great Lakes can be as much as four to seven hours.
The NOAA–Environment and Climate Change Canada Great Lakes quarterly climate report for March 2023 described a seiche on 23–24 December 2022 that left an 18.4-foot (5.6 m) difference between Toledo and Buffalo. NOAA’s verified six-minute data show the peaks behind that figure: Buffalo reached 176.75 m and Toledo dropped to 171.14 m, 2.36 m below chart datum. At 4 p.m. EST on 23 December the two gauges stood 5.09 m apart at the same moment, the widest simultaneous gap in NOAA’s hourly record for the pair since 1970. Other large gaps in that record were 30 January 2008 (4.78 m), 10 March 2002 (4.55 m), 6 April 1979 (4.53 m), 2 December 1985 (4.39 m), 15 November 2020 (4.14 m) and 29 December 2025 (4.08 m). Easterly storms reverse the tilt: the largest reverse gap in the hourly record is 2.50 m, with Toledo above Buffalo, on 14 November 1972, and on 15 April 2018 Toledo stood 1.86 m higher.
Lake-wide monthly means coordinated by Canada and the United States start in 1918. For 1918–2025, the coordinated lake-wide series published by NOAA GLERL gives Lake Erie a highest monthly mean of 175.14 m (June 2019) and a lowest of 173.18 m (February 1935 and February 1936), a range of 1.96 m. The table on this page lists, for each month, the all-time average with its record high and low.
High water plus a strong set-up is what floods the shore. Ontario’s Special Advisor on Flooding reported that during the 2019 high-water year marinas closed in Windsor and Lakeshore, sections of Holiday Beach and Tremblay Beach conservation areas closed, and roads were closed in Chatham-Kent, Kingsville and LaSalle. The reverse matters as well. Charted depths assume the lake is at chart datum, so when a seiche pulls the western basin below 173.50 m, ramps, channels and reef tops carry less water than the chart shows. North-shore conservation authorities issue shoreline flood watches and warnings using forecasts from Ontario’s Surface Water Monitoring Centre. In January 2024 Long Point Region Conservation Authority, citing a forecast of 2.22 m above chart datum at Port Colborne and waves of 1.80–2.95 m, asked the public to stay away from the shoreline. Ontario’s flood message system also includes ‘water safety’ statements for conditions that could be dangerous for boaters and anglers even when no flooding is expected.
Gauges on the Canadian shore are run by the Canadian Hydrographic Service of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Its station pages show recent readings at Kingsville, Erieau, Port Stanley, Port Dover and Port Colborne. Port Stanley and Port Colborne are two of the gauges used for the official lake-wide average, along with Toledo and Cleveland on the U.S. shore (NOAA GLERL also lists Fairport). Each month the CHS publishes a Monthly Water Level Bulletin and a six-month forecast prepared by Environment and Climate Change Canada and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We link to those pages rather than reproduce CHS station data.
The live values are the latest six-minute readings at Toledo (west end) and Buffalo (east end). When they differ by more than a few centimetres, the lake is tilted and neither one is the lake-wide level. On the 72-hour chart a set-up shows as the two lines pulling apart and then closing again; a seiche shows as repeated swings. The 30-day chart of daily means smooths those out so you can see the seasonal trend and compare it with the monthly average in the table. Recent NOAA readings are provisional and can be revised.
The live readings at the top of this page come from NOAA’s Toledo and Buffalo gauges and update every six minutes, in metres above IGLD 1985. The latest lake-wide monthly figure is a provisional 174.36 m for September 2026, 16 cm above the September average for 1918–2025, from the coordinated series published by NOAA GLERL.
Higher, for now. The provisional September 2026 lake-wide mean was 16 cm above the September average and 15 cm above September 2025. The coordinated forecast range published in September 2026 runs from 174.10 to 174.32 m for October, against an October average of 174.10 m, and widens to 173.82–174.44 m for February 2027.
A seiche is water sloshing from one end of the lake to the other after strong wind or a pressure change has piled it up at one end. On Lake Erie, southwest winds push water toward Buffalo and drop it at Toledo; east or northeast winds do the reverse. The swings can continue for hours after the wind eases; NOAA says the time between high and low can be as much as four to seven hours.
The Canadian Hydrographic Service reports end-to-end differences of more than 5 m on Lake Erie. A NOAA and Environment and Climate Change Canada report gives 5.6 m (18.4 ft) for the 23–24 December 2022 event. In NOAA’s data the two gauges were 5.09 m apart at the same moment that afternoon.
Chart datum (Low Water Datum) for Lake Erie is 173.50 m above IGLD 1985. Depths on nautical charts are measured from it, so a reading of 174.40 m means about 0.9 m more water than charted, and a reading below 173.50 m means less.