PARK TOWNSHIP, Mich. — As we stand on the front stoop of summer with beach chairs and sunscreen packed away for sunny afternoons on the shore of Lake Michigan, let's remember the dangers of these days, too.
Over the past five years, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, a total of 22 people drowned on West Michigan beaches (between South Haven to the south and Muskegon to the north), according to data from the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project (GLSRP).
In slightly more than one out of every three of these drownings, a beach hazard statement was not issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Grand Rapids.
"Like rolling the dice," Dave Benjamin, executive director of the GLSRP, said about the relative unpredictability of drownings.
The NWS's alerts are not specific to beaches, Benjamin says, meaning the conditions at Holland State Park may be more or less dangerous than those at Grand Haven State Park, especially given their public swimming areas are positioned at different sides of their respective piers.
"You need eyes on the water and someone to monitor and manage this in real time," Benjamin said.
Over the past five years, the NWS's Grand Rapids office has issued an average of 22 beach hazard statements each summer (between Memorial Day and Labor Day), with little variation between the years.
Drownings in this time period, though, have varied between a high of eight in 2022 and a low of zero in 2023 (again, all on West Michigan beaches).
"I would love to say it's going to be a safe summer and I hope and pray it's a safe summer, but you can't predict people's behaviors," said Cal Keuning, a firefighter for Park Township.
While drownings can be as reliable as they are random, Keuning says his township — responsible for several miles of Lake Michigan shoreline — is working to create a culture of water safety so swimmers know how to act at the beach, no matter the conditions.
"All of us working together," Keuning said.
