Lake Superior Facts
Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes, and the largest lake in the world by surface area.
- Length: 350 miles
- Width: 160 miles maximum
- Elevation: 602 feet above sea level
- Shoreline: 2,980 miles including islands
- Surface Area: 31,700 square miles
- Average Water Temperature: 40 degrees F
- Average Depth: 489 feet
- Maximum Depth: 222 fathoms or 1,333 feet at 46 miles southwest of Caribou Island - 5 degrees and 25 miles from Grand Island Picture Rocks National Lakeshore
- High Water Level: 602.86 feet (above sea level) in 1876
- Low Water Level: 598.23 feet (above sea level) in 1926
- One inch of water in Lake Superior is equal to 553 billion gallons
- Water Clarity: visibility 65-70 feet
- Water Volume: 440 trillion cubic feet or 10 percent of the world's fresh water
- Flushing Rate: 400-500 years (time required to change the water)
- Detention Rate: 191 years (average time a drop of water remains in the lake)
- Calmest Months: June and July
- Stormiest Months: October and November
- Highest Recorded Wave Height: 31 feet
- Shipwrecks Recorded: 350 wrecks with more than 1,000 lives lost
Find out more about Lake Superior by visiting these websites:
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