Geology and Climate
Presque Isle is a recurved sand spit that was formed during the Wisconsin glacial period, which ended around 10,000 BC and was the last major continental glaciation. The ice sheet advanced into the basin now occupied by Lake Erie, stopped for a while, and retreated to the north, leaving behind a moraine. This moraine marks the terminus of the episode of ice advance, consists of clay, sand, and gravel, and eventually became the Presque Isle peninsula. The deposits are constantly being re-worked by wave action and are gradually migrating to the northeast due to longshore drift.
As noted, the name presque-isle literally means "almost an island" in French. In fact, Presque Isle has been an island rather than a peninsula for brief periods. It has been cut off from the mainland four times since 1819, the longest stretch being the 32 years from 1832 to 1864, and each time the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has reconnected it.
The peninsula was breached five times between 1917 and 1922, the year after Presque Isle became a state park. While repair efforts then included plugging the breach with bales of hay and wood, in the 1950s a state and federal program built a concrete seawall. Fifty-eight breakwaters, built by 1992 to slow erosion, have "captured" the sand and significantly slowed its movement eastward. Even with the breakwaters, new sand has to be brought in annually to replenish the beaches.
Presque Isle protects the natural Presque Isle Bay, which creates a deep and wide harbor for the city of Erie. The bay is often filled with pleasure craft as well as cargo ships from all over the world that use the Great Lakes shipping port. Erie became an international port after the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959.
The highest recorded temperature at the park was 100 °F (38 °C) in 1988, and the record low was −18 °F (−28 °C) in 1994. As of 2007, Erie is 13th on the list of snowiest places in the United States, averaging 88 inches (220 cm). For the winter of 2007–2008, Erie received 118.7 inches (301 cm) of snow with the first snow of the season falling on November 6.
| Climate data for Presque Isle State Park | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °F (°C) | 33 (1) |
36 (2) |
45 (7) |
56 (13) |
67 (19) |
76 (24) |
80 (27) |
79 (26) |
72 (22) |
61 (16) |
49 (9) |
39 (4) |
57.8 (14.2) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 20 (−7) |
21 (−6) |
28 (−2) |
38 (3) |
49 (9) |
59 (15) |
64 (18) |
63 (17) |
56 (13) |
46 (8) |
36 (2) |
27 (−3) |
42.3 (5.6) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 2.53 (64.3) |
2.28 (57.9) |
3.13 (79.5) |
3.38 (85.9) |
3.34 (84.8) |
4.28 (108.7) |
3.28 (83.3) |
4.21 (106.9) |
4.73 (120.1) |
3.92 (99.6) |
3.96 (100.6) |
3.73 (94.7) |
42.77 (1,086.3) |
| Source: The Weather Channel | |||||||||||||
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