Jay Austin
jaustinumd.bsky.social
Jay Austin
@jaustinumd.bsky.social
Lake physicist, working on scales from milliseconds to millennia.
I am the unofficial bell-toller at St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Duluth, MN. Tonight at 7:10 PM I tolled our largest bell 29 times to honor the 29 souls lost in the Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy.
November 11, 2025 at 2:34 AM
If you want to keep your gear safe, DO NOT PUT IT IN THE LAKE. One of our buoys was just hit by a vessel (which will remain nameless here).
June 13, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Villanova's Career Center better be making hay of this.
May 8, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Found some 136 year old graffiti carved into a rock in the park near our house this evening
May 6, 2025 at 10:59 PM
I brought two reporters from the local paper along on a buoy deployment cruise last week. Here's a piece from this weekend in our local paper about the impact of federal funding cuts on Great Lakes science and safety:
www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/p...
Proposed NOAA cuts put Great Lakes research, safety at risk, experts say
A White House budget proposal would slash funding for Minnesota and Wisconsin Sea Grants, Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, Great Lakes Observing System and others.
www.duluthnewstribune.com
April 21, 2025 at 1:36 PM
I'm proud to say that I was a co-author on the last National Climate Assessment (NCA5). I'm sad to say it looks like I was a co-author on the LAST National Climate Assessment.
www.npr.org/2025/04/20/n....
Trump administration cancels the National Climate Assessment
The Trump administration has halted work on the National Climate Assessment. It's the most comprehensive source of information about how climate change affects the U.S.
www.npr.org
April 20, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by Jay Austin
Trump on the Great Lakes: "I assume the lakes are all interconnected."
April 9, 2025 at 8:31 PM
text from my son, majoring in investigative journalism: "Cross my fingers that I get added to the right group chat"
March 24, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Reposted by Jay Austin
Duluth is being hailed as a climate haven for people fleeing heat waves and sea level rise. But that doesn't mean Duluth isn't changing. And the losses cut deep.

For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loseth his snow?

www.startribune.com/even-in-dulu...
Even in Duluth, winter isn’t what it used to be
And the effects of that change are more than just physical.
www.startribune.com
March 19, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Super excited about this most recent publication! Along with a comprehensive survey of observed winter thermal conditions, we hindcast winter thermal structure across the upper Great Lakes for the last 125+ years:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#GreatLakes #GLOS #LakeSuperior
Winter thermal structure across the Laurentian Great Lakes
The formation of winter stratification and thermal structure in general across the Great Lakes varies in character not just between lakes, but interan…
www.sciencedirect.com
March 19, 2025 at 2:51 PM
This is a bit of a surprise; while Lake Superior ice cover is on par with 2024- way behind the long term average- the other four lakes are near or even exceeding the long-term average coverage. Superior coverage typically peaks in early March so we still have a ways to go.
January 27, 2025 at 3:59 PM
I wrote a paper because I was frustrated with there being little in the literature on the basic dynamics of coastal setup and seiches. Existing lit either provided no dynamical insight or required a degree in applied math. I think this threads that needle.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Simple linear models of coastal setup and seiching behavior across the Laurentian Great lakes
Storm surges and seiches are two dynamically distinct behaviors of lakes that contribute to coastal sea level fluctuations on short time scales and ca…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 7, 2024 at 6:58 PM