This section describes the ranges of water levels, explains storm surges, and combinations of water levels, storm surges and storm waves. This section will soon describe wave wave runup. Coastal erosion,  lakebed erosion and flooding are also coastal processes but are described under Coastal Hazards.

Lake Levels 
The Lake Levels page contains maximum and minimum monthly record lake levels for each of the Great Lakes. The page will soon list some levels from the early settlement period land from pre-settlement times in the past several thousand years. 

Nearshore Currents
This page describes sometimes-dangerous longshore currents, rip currents and undertow, how to recognize and avoid them.

Seiches and Storm Surges
This page describes seiches: periodic oscillations of water masses in enclosed basins that causes shoreline water levels to rise and fall. 
The page also describes storm surges: temporary rises in water levels along shore with strong on-shore winds, and the counter part to surges: "set downs"; the drop in shoreline water levels with strong offshore winds.

Anticipated Great Lakes Water Level Responses to Climate Change
This page, new in April 2002, has information from modeling Great Lakes hydrologic responses to inputs from global circulation models at the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Links are provided for getting new results from the laboratory and more information on climate change from NOAA and the USEPA.

Storms
A description and photos of storm waves and storm damage at Duluth, Minnesota on Lake Superior due to a storm on November 26, 27, 2001.