Unlike recent years, when frequent lake-effect storms pulled moisture out of the lakes, Calappi said storms this winter delivered moisture from outside the region to replenish water supplies here.

?Fourteen inches of water over the surface of those big lakes is a lot of water,? Calappi said about the possible summerlong rise of Huron and Michigan. ?A single inch on Lake Superior is huge.?

The anticipated peak won?t occur until late July or August. Levels won?t reach long-term season averages and won?t come close to record highs of the 1980s that caused beaches to erode and cottages to fall into the surf, he said.

The Coast Guard warns boaters that higher water won?t make navigating any easier in some areas, especially on Lake St. Clair, where the deepest shipping channels are about 40 feet.