What buoy does this Lake St. Clair page use?

The Detroit Outdoors water engine uses NOAA/NDBC station 45147 as a regional Lake St. Clair observation and combines it with the Lake St. Clair Metropark forecast and NWS marine alerts.

Is this a water-safety clearance?

No. It is a conservative trip-planning gate. Currents, boat traffic, launch conditions and very local wind still need to be checked immediately before entering the water.

Why can the page say no when the weather looks nice?

Because the water engine also requires acceptable observed waves, buoy wind, water temperature, marine-alert status and fresh data. A good land forecast cannot override those checks.

Home › Detroit Outdoors › Is Lake St. Clair Good for Paddling Today?

Detroit Outdoors live signal

Is Lake St. Clair Good for Paddling Today?

This is intentionally stricter than a normal weather forecast. The Detroit Outdoors water engine requires a recent NOAA/NDBC observation, a healthy marine-alert feed and conservative water and weather thresholds before it publishes a calm-water window.

Checking live data

Reading the current Detroit signal…

The live evidence is loading now.

Checking current safety-gated evidence.

Updating…

Evidence behind the read

What the engine actually knows

Loading verified source evidence…

What could change the decision

Keep the uncertainty visible

Loading the current caveats and unresolved conditions…

Detroit Outdoors never turns missing or unsafe evidence into a positive recommendation. If the required source or safety gate fails, this page says so and points you to the underlying specialist source.

The hard gate

Weather alone cannot create a paddling recommendation

The engine uses NOAA/NDBC station 45147 as a regional Lake St. Clair observation plus the Lake St. Clair Metropark forecast and NWS marine hazards. A weather-only paddling card is suppressed when the water-specific evidence does not pass.

Current thresholds

What must clear

Observed waves: no more than 1.5 ft.
Observed buoy wind: no more than 10 mph.
Forecast gusts: no more than 16 mph.
Rain chance: no more than 30%.
Observed water temperature: at least 58°F for this broad-audience gate.
No active marine or dangerous-weather hard stop.

Important limitation

Station 45147 is regional, not launch-specific

The buoy is roughly 12 miles from Lake St. Clair Metropark. It is useful evidence, but it does not resolve currents, boat traffic, launch status or a small local wind shift at the exact place you enter the water.

Use the Great Lakes Buoy Dashboard as the final water check.

Why a no matters

Unsafe or incomplete evidence stays out

A Small Craft Advisory, stale observation, missing water temperature, rougher waves or stronger wind can all suppress the water opportunity. That is the intended behavior: a missing specialist input never falls back to a prettier land forecast.