Seven years ago we visited Lake Superior for the first time. I’d always heard it was cold and immediately deep so that swimming was not particularly enjoyable. As we pulled into the park I noticed the waves were cresting at quite a distance from shore indicating sand banks piled up. It seemed odd to me because it wasn’t what I expected. We walked to the shore and followed sand banks out to the waves. I was amazed at how far we were able to walk on the soft wind-blown sand.
The low water level was the result of low precipitation and evaporation. As cold dry air from Canada moves across the warmer Lake Superior the water is soaked up. The winter before was mild allowing more water to evaporate than usual.