Happy Lake Superior Day! 5 facts about the biggest of Great Lakes

Lake Superior taken by the MODIS instrument onboard the Terra satellite on May 7, 2022. (MODIS)

Happy Lake Superior Day!

Celebrated every year on the third Sunday in July, for some apparent reason, Lake Superior Day is a day to bask in the glory of the largest of the Great Lakes. We’re lucky to have amazing access to it here in Michigan.

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Here are some fun facts about Lake Superior to help you soak it all in.

  • Lake Superior is, by surface area, the largest freshwater lake in the world. (The Caspian Sea is considered the largest overall lake, even though it’s a sea? I don’t make the rules)
  • Lake Superior contains as much water as all other Great Lakes combined, and more. Overall, it’s the fourth largest lake in the world by volume, containing 10% of the Earth’s fresh surface water.
  • Let’s get deep: Lake Superior’s deepest point is 1,333 feet, the 10th deepest point for any lake in the world. Baikal Lake in Russia reaches more than 5,000 feet below. Eeek.
  • Shipwrecks: Lake Superior is home to more than 300 recorded shipwrecks, accounting for more than 10,000 lives lost. The most famous, of course, was the Edmund Fitzgerald.
  • It’s not as icy as you think: Lake Superior rarely freezes over 100%. The last time it came close was 2014, when it got to 91% ice coverage. Before then, the closest was 1979.

Read more: 🔒 How the Great Lakes were formed


About the Author:

Ken Haddad has proudly been with WDIV/ClickOnDetroit since 2013. He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters, and helps lead the WDIV Insider team. He's a big sports fan and is constantly sipping Lions Kool-Aid.