Expect another huge blob of algae on Lake Erie this summer

TOLEDO, Ohio — Scientists are likely to warn that another massive harmful algae bloom will blanket western Lake Erie this summer when they release their forecast.

It will be released Thursday.

Researchers are expecting that record-setting rains in Ohio and neighboring states in recent months will fuel a large mass of algae on the lake.

Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issue a forecast for the lake each year.

Algae blooms have become a recurring problem on the shallowest of the Great Lakes, and it was nearly five years ago when a bloom contaminated drinking water in Toledo.

Some areas along the Ohio shoreline already have been seeing algae starting to form and drift into the lake.

Heavy rains are to blame for washing farm fertilizer and untreated sewage into the lake.