The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says Great Lakes levels probably will remain below average for the next six months but won't set records unless the weather is unusually dry.
Officials with the corps' Detroit office said Wednesday the shipping industry and commercial boaters will continue to deal with hazardous conditions in many harbors for the foreseeable future.
Watershed hydrology chief Keith Kompoltowicz says the winter's heavy snowfall will help the lakes recover slightly from extremely low levels in recent months. Lakes Michigan and Huron set an all-time record low in January. They're still more than two feet below their long-term average but are expected to stay slightly above record lows through September.
But Kompoltowicz says it would take several wet years to get the lakes back to normal.