Ever since people have traveled the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
, storms have taken lives and vessels. The first sailing vessel on the upper lakes, the ''
Le Griffon
''Le Griffon'' (, ''The Griffin'') was a sailing vessel built by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in 1679.
''Le Griffon'' was constructed and launched at or near Cayuga Island on the Niagara River and was armed with seven cannons. The ...
'', was lost on its return from
Green Bay in 1679. Since that time, memorable storms have swept the lakes, often in the month of November,
taking men and ships to their death. With the advent of modern technology and sturdier vessels, fewer such losses have occurred.
The large expanse of the lakes allows waves to build to substantial heights and the open water can alter weather systems (
fog
Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...
,
lake effect snow
Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated up by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises up through ...
). Storm winds can alter the lakes as well with large systems causing storm surges that lower lake levels several feet on one side while raising it even higher on the other. The shallowest lake,
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
, sometimes sees storm surge rises of 8 or 10 feet.
Seiche
A seiche ( ) is a standing wave in an enclosed or partially enclosed body of water. Seiches and seiche-related phenomena have been observed on lakes, reservoirs, swimming pools, bays, harbors, caves and seas. The key requirement for formation o ...
s cause short-term irregular lake level changes, killing people swept off beaches and piers and even sometimes sinking boats The great tolls caused by Great Lakes storms in 1868 and 1869 were one of the main reasons behind establishing a national
weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia a ...
service, initially run by the
U.S. Army Signal Corps
)
, colors = Orange and white
, colors_label = Corps colors
, march =
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
...
using telegraphs to announce approaching storms in a few port cities.
Lake Erie Gale (1811)
It was September 1811 and Jacob Butler was headed to
Sandusky, Ohio
Sandusky ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Erie County, Ohio, Erie County, Ohio, United States. Situated along the shores of Lake Erie in the northern part of the state, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( wes ...
as the new Indian Agent. When he arrived in
Buffalo, he found it to be a small town of 40-50 houses and little activity. There were but a few ships in the harbor. The ''Catherine'' was a new schooner that had set sail the day before, but was now anchored nine miles up the Canadian shore at Point Ebenew. As it had set sail, it encountered a west wind forcing it to seek shelter. Seeing an opportunity to avoid the long trip around the lake, he crossed the
Niagara River
The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York (state), New York in the United States (on the east) ...
and with the help of a guide came upon the ship at anchor after two hours. Soon they were underway with a steady breeze pushing them towards Sandusky.
The ship was packed and every possible space in which a person could find repose was occupied. All night they traveled westward, the ship pushed by the wind and the schooner rocking from side to side. With so many people, so closely packed, many became nauseated. The next day, they traveled westward. As night fell on their second day of travel, they expected to see Sandusky in the morning. Everyone had just settled down for the night, when a commotion arose and a gale blew out of the southwest, nearly tipping the vessel over. If the schooner had not been ‘hove to’ and resting quietly, it would have been capsized. (Without shore lights, lighthouse, or modern navigation equipment, Captains would ‘
heave to
In sailing, heaving to (to heave to and to be hove to) is a way of slowing a sailing vessel's forward progress, as well as fixing the helm and sail positions so that the vessel does not have to be steered. It is commonly used for a "break"; this ...
’ at night if they anticipated approaching land/harbor soon. This prevented them from running aground in the dark.)
Quickly the crew made the ''Catherine'' ready for the storm and let her drift before the winds. As daylight came, the captain was able to get his ship behind
Presque Isle (
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
), where they rode out the storm for the next 24 hours. The winds persisted so fiercely that everything on deck was swept clear. The crew and passengers remained below deck in the dark, their supply of food gone. On the fourth day of his journey, the gale ended and they were able to resupply from shore. Setting sail for Sandusky, the hope was to make harbor by dark. Once again a gale of lesser force sprang up and pushed the vessel back to Presque Isle. Here, many of the passengers left the ship and hired a wagon for the two-week overland trip. On their next attempt to reach Sandusky, the ''Catherine'' made harbor without incident.
Storm in the age of canoes (1825)
It was September 1825 when
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi R ...
recorded a late fall storm on
Lake Huron
Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...
. He was returning from an Indian ‘Congress’ at
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Prairie du Chien () is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,506 at the 2020 census. Its ZIP Code is 53821.
Often referred to as Wisconsin's second oldest city, Prairie du Chien was esta ...
. It had been an uneventful six-day trip from the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
to
Michilimackinac
Michilimackinac ( ) is derived from an Ottawa Ojibwe name for present-day Mackinac Island and the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire regio ...
. From Mackinac, Schoolcraft was headed towards Detour Pass and up the
St. Mary's River to
Sault Ste. Marie. On the morning of 5 September, he arose, had breakfast and prepared to strike out in their canoes. The day was cloudy and threatening, so he decided to wait until the next day. Arising at three in the morning, he found the island lost in a fog. They waited until it began to clear at 6:30 a.m. and made their way to Goose Island, distance after three hours. From there, they made their way to Outard Point. Here, the headwind had increased so they
hove to about noon and were able to pull into an inlet out of the wind and make camp. Eight hours later, the canoe party was still waiting for the wind to let up. The night brought a heavy rain, piercing the fabric of the tents, soaking everyone and everything. The morning of the 7th found the storm continuing. The increasing violence caused Schoolcraft to have his tent moved back into the trees for more protection. Around three, the sky seemed to be brightening and expectations were that the weather was clearing. But the rains and the wind came with renewed fury from the west and continued late into the night. As the morning of the 8th arrived, Schoolcraft determined to get on with his journey. As the wind was directly out of the west, he was headed east, he ordered the canoes readied and the sails. With sails
reefed against the storm, the brigade set out into the lake at 10:00 a.m. Just under three and a half hours brought them 20 miles to the Isle St. Vital, behind which they took refuge from the wind. After a break, they once again set into the gale-force winds, driving for De Tour and the St. Mary's Strait. Here they found the schooner ''Harriet'', down bound, waiting for the winds to subside. It was but another day and they were once again at Sault Ste. Marie.
Early steam on the Lakes (1835)
On November 11, 1835, a southwest wind swept across the lakes, taking numerous vessels. This was still early in the life of commercial shipping on the Lakes, so most of the losses were on the lower lakes where settlements were greatest.
[J.B. Mansfield, ''History of the Great Lakes'', 1899]
Buffalo was a major port on
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
and felt the force of the storm as water from the lake forced ships onto the piers and shoreline of the city. The creek rose 20 feet as the wind and the harbor front were swept away.
Big Blow of 1880
*
SS Alpena
The PS ''Alpena'' was a sidewheel steamer built by Thomas Arnold of Gallagher & Company at Marine City, Michigan in 1866. She was operated by the Goodrich Line after being purchased from Gardner, Ward & Gallagher in April 1868. The ''Alpena'' sa ...
sank with loss of 80 passengers and crew.
The 1905 Blow (1905)
The Mataafa Storm of 1905 is the name of a storm that occurred on the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
on November 27–28, 1905. The system moved across the Great Basin with moderate depth on November 26 and November 27, then east-northeastward across the Great Lakes on November 28. Fresh east winds were forecast for the Great Lakes for the afternoon and evening of November 27, with storm warnings were in effect by the morning of November 28. Storm-force winds and heavy snows accompanied the cyclone's passage. The storm, named after the
Mataafa wreck, ended up destroying or damaging about 29 vessels, killing 36 seamen and causing shipping losses of $3.567 million (1905 dollars) on Lake Superior.
The Wrecks of November 28
The Big Storm (1913)
In 1913, from the ninth of November through the twelfth, all five lakes were turned into cauldrons of rolling water by a unique combination of weather patterns. Before the four days ended, 13 ships went under and many more were driven ashore. Two hundred forty-four men died. The largest loss of ships was on Lake Huron (see
Shipwrecks of Lake Huron
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
)
1 (actual number of lives lost on ''Wexford'' uncertain) 17 to 24 victims reported
Black Friday (1916)
![Surface Map from Saturday October 21 1916 following Black Friday](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Surface_Map_from_Saturday_October_21_1916_following_Black_Friday.png)
Friday, October 20, 1916, on
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
. These were the years before there was ship to shore radio. Once out on the lakes, each ship had only itself to depend upon and the chance of meeting another ship. While only four ships were lost, nearly all the men of these crews were lost to the tempest of the storm-tossed lake. In all, Black Friday took the lives of 49 men.
The
''James B. Colgate'' had just finished loading coal and set sail from
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
bound for
Fort William, Ontario
Fort William was a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. It amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Since th ...
(now
Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...
). It was 1:10 in the morning as the ''Colgate'' dropped its
hawser
Hawser () is a nautical term for a thick cable or rope used in mooring or towing a ship.
A hawser passes through a hawsehole, also known as a cat hole, located on the hawse.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, third edition, ...
s and headed out into the open lake. Dawn found the ''Colgate'' off Long Point. All day they moved steadily westward, keeping the bow into the wind, waves crashing over the decks and beating on the hatch coverings. Slowing, water began to enter the cargo holds. The pumps could not keep up with the influx of water and she began to list at about eight o'clock that evening. No other ships had been seen and none could be found. The bow was riding low in the water. As the ten o'clock hour came around, the ''Colgate'' slid beneath the waves. The men all had life jackets, but nothing was floating which would help them get out of the cold water. One life raft was found and a coal passer, the engineer and the captain took refuge. In the middle of the night, the raft was flipped and the coal passer did not return. As the 21st dawned, the raft again spilled its occupants and the engineer returned but was too weak to hold on and he was lost. Night came on and Captain Walter J. Grashaw still hung on to the raft. A passenger steamer passed nearby, but he was unnoticed in the dark. As daylight dawned on the 22nd, Sunday, the Marquette & Bessemer No. 2 (II) came to his rescue.
''Marshall F. Butters'', a wooden lumber carrier down bound to
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
with a cargo of shingles and lumber, entered
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
from the
Detroit River
The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...
. The wind rose and the waves grew in height. The ''Butters'' turned into Lake Erie heading towards the Southeast Shoals Light, off the tip of
Point Pelee
Point Pelee National Park (; french: Parc national de la Pointe-Pelée) is a national park in Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada where it extends into Lake Erie. The word is French for 'bald'. Point Pelee consists of a peninsula of la ...
. The wooden ship could not take the pounding of the waves. Settling into the lake, soon the boilers were extinguished and the ''Butters'' was at the mercy of the storm. Ten men set sail in the lifeboat, leaving only the captain and two men on board the sinking vessel. The Pioneer Steamship Company's ''Frank R. Billings'' and the ''F.G. Hartwell'' were nearby. The ''Billings'' approached to give aid. Pouring
storm oil
Storm oil is oil used to calm an area of water. It has been claimed that it has been used to calm seas to facilitate rescues. Oil was usually carried in a bag which would be released onto the water or in a container which would slowly deploy the o ...
on the water, they were able to calm the seas enough to rescue Captain McClure and his two men. Meanwhile, the ''Hartwell'' rescued the men in the lifeboat.
A third ship the ''D.L. Filer'', a wooden
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
of 45 years, was headed from Buffalo to
Saugatuck, Michigan
Saugatuck is a city in Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 865 at the 2020 census. The city is within Saugatuck Township, but is administratively autonomous.
Originally a lumber town and port, Saugatuck, along w ...
with a load of coal. For two days, the ''Filer'' beat into the wind headed for the
Detroit River
The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...
at the western end of Lake Erie. Just off Bar Point, within sight of the mouth of the Detroit River, the pumps could no longer move the volume of water rushing into the holds, and the seams began to open. In eighteen feet of water, she settled to the bottom. Six men climbed the foremast, while the captain climbed the after mast. It looked like all seven of the crew could cling to the mast and weather the night. But the weight of six men snapped the fore mast and five disappeared. Only one man made it to the after mast and climbed to safety. As dawn broke the horizon, the ''Western States'' came into sight and turned towards the two men clinging to the mast protruding from the shallows. As the steamer approached, one man slipped from the mast and was never seen again. Only the Captain John Mattison was rescued.
Meanwhile, the Canadian steamer ''Merida'' disappeared that night. All 23 of her crew were found the next day floating in mid-lake, only identified by their life vests bearing the name ''Merida''.
Armistice Day blizzard (1940)
![Armistice Day Blizzard surface map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Armistice_Day_Blizzard_surface_map.jpg)
The Armistice Day Blizzard was a winter storm that occurred on November 11–12, 1940 which brought heavy snow and winds up to 80 mph. The
lake freighter
Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that operate on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships.
Since the late 19th century, lakers have carried bulk cargoes of m ...
SS ''William B. Davock'' sank with all 33 hands in Lake Michigan south of
Pentwater, Michigan
Pentwater is a village in Oceana County, Michigan, Oceana County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 857 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The village is located within Pentwater Township, Michigan, Pentwater Township. P ...
. The
SS ''Anna C. Minch'' foundered, broke in two and sank nearby with the loss of all 24 crew. A third ship, the
SS ''Novadoc'', wrecked on a reef in the same area. Two crew were lost and the rest were rescued two days later by the tug ''Three Brothers''. Two smaller boats also sank, bringing the total death toll on the Lakes to 66.
Duluth Storm (1967)
![Surface map 1 AM EST April 30 1967](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Surface_map_1_AM_EST_April_30_1967.png)
On April 30, 1967, a storm in
Duluth, Minnesota
, settlement_type = City
, nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...
took the lives of three teenage boys and Coast Guardsman
Edgar Culbertson
Edgar A. Culbertson (October 13, 1935 – April 30, 1967) was a United States Coast Guard Boatswain's Mate First Class (BM1) who died while trying to rescue three teenage brothers during a fierce storm in Duluth, Minnesota.
Rescue
Meteorologists ...
. Culbertson and two others were part of a rescue team searching for the missing boys on the Duluth Entry pier on
Lake Superior
Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
. Meteorologists and Minnesota residents often refer to this day as "Black Sunday". There were reports of heavy rain as far north as Duluth that day. The waves on Lake Superior in Duluth that night were reportedly over high at times; the lake had water with gale-force winds gusting up to .
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (1975)
![Weather Map from November 10 1975 Edmund Fitzgerald Storm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Weather_Map_from_November_10_1975_Edmund_Fitzgerald_Storm.png)
Once again it was a November storm that took the lives of men and their ship. It was November 9, 1975 that ''Edmund Fitzgerald'' was downbound to
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
with a load of
taconite
Taconite () is a variety of iron formation, an iron-bearing (over 15% iron) sedimentary rock, in which the iron minerals are interlayered with quartz, chert, or carbonate. The name "taconyte" was coined by Horace Vaughn Winchell (1865–1923) †...
. ''Arthur M. Anderson'' joined her on Lake Superior and was downbound for
Gary, Indiana
Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the ...
. As they were crossing Lake Superior the winter storm blew in. Winds were reported in excess of with waves running up to . The next day, Monday, November 10, eastern Lake Superior was still experiencing winds of 50 knots (57.5 mph). That afternoon ''Anderson'' reported being hit by a 75-knot gust (86.3 mph). By 3:30 pm the ''Fitzgerald'' reported a minor list and top-side damage, including the loss of radar. ''Fitzgerald'' was leading, but slowed to close the distance between ships so that it could be guided by ''Anderson'', who still had radar. Just after seven that night, the last radio contact from the ''Fitzgerald'' said that they were still managing. By 7:20 p.m. there was no more contact and ''Anderson'' no longer saw ''Fitzgerald'' on radar.
''Fitzgerald'' sank in Canadian waters deep, approximately 17 miles (15 nautical miles; 27 kilometers) from the entrance to Whitefish Bay near the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Although ''Fitzgerald'' had reported being in difficulty earlier, no distress signals were sent before she sank. Her crew of 29 all perished, and no bodies were recovered.
Many theories, books, studies and expeditions have examined the cause of the sinking. ''Fitzgerald'' may have fallen victim to a huge wave, suffered structural failure, been swamped with water entering through her cargo hatches or deck, experienced topside damage, or shoaled in a shallow part of Lake Superior. The sinking of ''Edmund Fitzgerald'' is one of the best-known disasters in the history of Great Lakes shipping. Gordon Lightfoot made it the subject of his 1976 hit song "
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
"The Wreck of the ''Edmund Fitzgerald'' is a 1976 hit song written, composed and performed by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot to commemorate the sinking of the bulk carrier SS ''Edmund Fitzgerald'' on Lake Superior on November 10, ...
".
The Lake Huron Cyclone (1996)
The 1996 Lake Huron cyclone was a unique storm for the Great Lakes, acquiring some tropical characteristics at its peak intensity.
Northeastern Ontario Derecho (2006)
The 2006 Northeastern Ontario Derecho formed on the Great Lakes. The Storm caused damage throughout Northern Ontario, and into Quebec.
The "Chiclone" (2010)
On October 26, 2010, the USA recorded its lowest pressure ever in a continental, non-hurricane system, though its pressure was consistent with a category three hurricane. The powerful system was dubbed the "Chiclone" by the media as it hit the Chicago area particularly strongly, as well as Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. It was also meteorologically referred to as a bombogenesis due to the rapid drop of barometric pressure experienced.
In Superior, Wisconsin, the storm managed a 28.38 inch reading—a new all-time low for Wisconsin at the time. Near International Falls on the U.S./Canada border, the system's reading established a new all-time Minnesota low pressure. Early Tuesday morning October 26, an F2 tornado rushed through Will County, south of Chicago, at 7:00 AM. Another tornado is said to have struck Racine, Wisconsin, to the north, but has not yet been confirmed. In Roscoe, IL, about 100 miles to the west of Chicago and 15 minutes north of Rockford, a woman was killed after being crushed under a large tree that fell in her neighborhood of Chickory Ridge.
The storm also produced some of the highest officially recorded waves by weather buoys stationed in Lakes Superior and Michigan. Specifically, on Wednesday, October 27, 2010, buoy no. 45136, operated by Environment Canada, in northern Lake Superior recorded a significant wave height of 26.6 feet (this is average height of 1/3 of the highest waves over an hour), and buoy no. 45002, operated by the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), recorded a significant wave height of 21.7 feet in northern Lake Michigan. This would appear consistent with the NOAA forecast for northern Lake Michigan calling for 21–26-foot waves that day. The persistence and strength of the storm's westerly winds also piled the waters of Lake Michigan along the Michigan shoreline leading to declines in lake levels on the Illinois and Wisconsin side of the lake. Based on NOAA lake level sensors, an updated analysis of Wednesday, October 27, 2010, water levels on Lake Michigan revealed a two-day decrease of 42 inches at Green Bay, WI and 19 inches at Calumet Harbor, IL---while NOAA sensors at Ludington, MI and Mackinaw City, MI measured lake level rises of 7 and 19 inches respectively.
A 78 mph gust was recorded the afternoon of October 27, 2010 at the Harrison-Dever Crib, three miles offshore of Chicago in Lake Michigan, with gusts reaching 63 mph at Chicago's Latin School and in Racine, Wisconsin, 61 mph at Buffalo Grove, Waukegan, Gary and Monroe, Wisconsin and 58 mph at Hinsdale. The storm further whitened sections of the Upper Midwest with the region's first significant snow Tuesday night and Wednesday. Snowfall reports from Minnesota and North Dakota indicate 9 inches fell at Twig, Minn.; 8.5 inches at Dunn Center, N.D.; 8 inches at Adolph, Minn. and Carrington, N.D.; 7.7 inches at Duluth; 4.1 inches Williston; 4 inches at Minot and 3.4 inches at Bismarck---all in North Dakota.
Superstorm Sandy (2012)
The cold front that merged with
Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...
at the end of October 2012 fueled Sandy's transition into a powerful
extratropical cyclone
Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of ...
, which brought strong winds and high waves across the Great Lakes. Lake Michigan recorded wave heights of 20 to 22 feet and wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph. The southern end of Lake Michigan experienced a lake level rise of 15 inches as the winds pushed water down the lake. Lake Huron experienced 23-foot waves and a wind gust of 74 mph was recorded at Fort Gratiot at the southern end of the lake.
About 80,000 without power in Metro Detroit after Superstorm Sandy
''Detroit Free Press'', October 30, 2012 Most freighters stayed in harbor instead of trying to run through the storm.
The Lake Michigan Storm of Halloween 2014
On October 31, 2014, there was a powerful storm which impacted the Great Lakes area during times when people are traditionally celebrating Halloween.
See also
* SS ''Carl D. Bradley''
* SS ''Daniel J. Morrell''
*Great Lakes Storm of 1913
The Great Lakes Storm of 1913 (historically referred to as the "Big Blow", the "Freshwater Fury", and the "White Hurricane") was a blizzard with hurricane-force winds that devastated the Great Lakes Basin in the Midwestern United States and Sou ...
* List of victims of the 1913 Great Lakes storm
*Upper Great Lakes severe weather outbreak of August 23, 1998
The Upper Great Lakes severe weather outbreak of August 23, 1998 was a severe weather outbreak that affected parts of Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The outbreak occurred on August 23, 1998, and caused millions of dollars in damag ...
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
Further reading
Bradley, Mary A. ''The Witch of November Came Early: The Saga of the Edmund Fitzgerald'', (November-December, 1999).
Michigan History Magazine.
*Ratigan, Bill. ''Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals''. Grand Rapids: WB Eerdmans, 1977.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Storms On The Great Lakes, List Of
Great Lakes-related lists
Lists of disasters in Canada
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Lists of disasters in the United States