SHORE TEMPERATURES VERSUS INLAND TEMPERATURES
We will focus on Copper Harbor versus Houghton to explain this. Putting the day and night together, the average temperature at Copper Harbor is warmer than Houghton between August and March and it is cooler between May and July. Copper Harbor is a degree warmer than Houghton in August and it is about 2 1/2 degrees warmer in the fall between September and November. During the winter the amount by which Copper Harbor is warmer than Houghton gradually declines, from 2.8 degrees warmer in December to about one degree warmer in February and March. In April, the average temperature is almost exactly the same.
From May through July, Copper Harbor is slightly cooler than Houghton. Copper Harbor is about 2 degrees cooler in May and 2 1/2 degrees cooler in June. In July Copper Harbor is about a degree cooler than Houghton.
In summary, within Big Snow Country, the overall annual average temperature right along the shore is one or two degrees warmer than it is 5-30 miles inland. As an annual average, night lows at the shore are one to four degrees warmer whereas days average out to between the same and one degree warmer. For example, to nearest half a degree, the overall annual average temperature at Copper Harbor is 42, while it is 41 at Houghton-Hancock, 40.5 at South Range, and 40 at Ironwood. At Marquette along the Lake, it is about 43.
DAY / NIGHT MICRO VARIATIONS
We will use Copper Harbor versus Houghton to look at seasonal day/night micro differences. In the fall and winter, from September through February, the nights are 2-3 degrees warmer at Copper Harbor versus Houghton. The exact difference is 2.3 degrees and the peak difference is in December, when Copper Harbor is 2.8 degrees warmer than Houghton at night.
In March at night, Copper Harbor is a degree warmer than Houghton. In August it is half a degree warmer.
Between April and July, Copper Harbor nights are cooler than they are in Houghton, ranging between half a degree cooler in April to almost three degrees cooler in June.
As for day highs, between September and February they average 2-3 degrees warmer at Copper Harbor versus Houghton. In March and late August, day highs are about 1 degree warmer at Copper Harbor versus Houghton.
The rest of the year, between April and mid-August, the days are cooler at Copper Harbor versus Houghton. In April, the highs are less than a degree cooler at Copper Harbor versus Houghton.
Between May and mid August, you would probably notice the difference between Copper Harbor and Houghton, because during this period the days are 2-3 degrees cooler in Copper Harbor than they are in Houghton.
SNOWFALL
For the differences in snowfall between shore and inland, see this article.
THE MONEY YOU CAN SAVE
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SNOW TOO DEEP
