Seiche caused low water levels

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News and analysis by Dan Telvock, Investigative Post's environmental reporter

People took to Facebook and Twitter Wednesday wondering why water levels for Lake Erie and its tributaries were abnormally low.

I thought I was going to have to make calls today to meteorologists and other weather experts to explain what happened, but our partners at WGRZ did it for us.

Channel 2 WGRZ discovered that a seiche is the culprit.

A seiche starts with a storm surge or high sustained winds from one direction that push the water up at the opposite — which in this case would be in Toledo, OH, — and cause the other side to drop like it did here in Buffalo.

Watch the video to see exactly what a seiche does to the water levels.

Here is a photo gallery WGRZ put together.

Dan Telvock