The Great Lakes are Angry

Very strong NNW winds here. Tomorrow the waves on Lake Michigan are predicted to be 15-20 ft. with an occasional 26 footer.
Lake Superior will have 24 footers.
Gordon Lightfoot sings of "The gales of November", but it's only mid October!

Sometimes the gales of November come early. I'm thinking this winter is going to be a rough one.

Not much water round here to be angry...Godspeed!

From shore I have safely seen very large waves on Lake Erie. The power in the water is amazing.

Back one summer day when I was 20 years old, I was a guest on a large boat on Lake Erie. The engine died as a major storm approached. Unfortunately a tornado developed and it came right over us. The waves were immense. The wind was deafening. Only by God’s grace did everyone survive. Miracles happened that day.

For a good read about weather developing suddenly and placing lives in peril, look up writings about “The day the duck hunters died”.

RP - why do you think this winter will be rough?
Thanks for the video. I have not seen that before. Many important images!

Best wishes.

And the Edmund Fitzgerald wasn't that long ago.

Garry I was younger when the Edmond Fitzgerald went down. I live on the east side of superior that was by far the worst storm I have ever seen in my 50 years here. We found a life boat the next day as everyone was walking the shorline looking for survivors. I think that boat is in the museum in Michigan. We found 2 of them they were torn from their rests when it went down I think. Nobody was getting into a lifeboat on the lake that night. I saw waves of what I believe where 75 to 100 feet

Here is Superior around 3:00 pm this afternoon, winds out of the NW at 27, tonight supposed to jump to 40 plus. The water has raised the creek by about 4 feet, pushing it upstream. These are little waves.

Incredible

crazy windy here

The Edmund Fitzgerald went down on Nov 10 1975
Winds were 70-75 mph
Waves heights of 18-25 feet
Largest wave ever recorded on Superior was 29 feet

I never knew waves got that big on a lake.

Yup

Why are there no surfers?

I was a kid when the E.F. went down. We had just started fishing a new place in western Ontario the year before. Crossed at the Soo and took 17 west. I still remember that second trip, my parents stopping somewhere by Copper Mine and pointing out into the lake. "That's where it went down". Made that trip a whole bunch of times since then. It's even eerier now that I have an adult perspective of what happened that night.

The big lakes are nothing to fool with.

Last week they found a 292-foot Whaleback barge that had been sunk in Superior during a 1902 storm.

When the sun rises, I expect to look out and see Houghton Lake rocking and rolling too....
15-25 mph, gusts to 45 outta be pretty wild on the water here.
I see a duck hunter today, I know he/she is nutso

Blessings,
Mark

Waves on Superior at right about 9-11 feet. At 7:00am had to turn the hearing aids down 2 notches, the roar was deafening.

I think I played that song until there was a permanent groove wore in the record!

Not to take away from the tragedy of Great lakes drownings.

"Surfer Dan" out of Marquette I believe .
Is a local Legend.

Lake Erie.

There are surfers on lake Erie

The biggest thing now is wind surfing. Those guys fly through the air it's mesmerizing to watch. They put on dry suits and I've seen them in the lake when it's water temp is 40°. Although I'm not one to talk, did a polar bear swim with the Marine corps post for many years raising funds for juvenile diabetes

Danny I seen a couple people with surf boards when I was over to lake Michigan fishing. I know there have been surfers for years. Might be that the water is fairly cool even in summer.

Mac

I might be overthinking it but by the amount of walnuts the trees produced this year. I don't remember seeing so many before plus the farmers almanac states that it will be a cold snowy winter in this part of the country. Also, we are due for a bad one. But with that said who knows what mother nature has in store for us.

My Dad was commercial fishing when the Daniel J Morrell went down northeast of Harbor Beach. He said it was clear morning but the sky was red. They had nets set for whitefish somewhere north of the thumb that they had to pull. Got caught in the storm. He said they had one shot to hit the gap in Harbor Beach’s break walls. He remembers the east wall (largest of the three break walls, about 15’ above the water) was at times completely under the waves. Only two fish tugs went out that day and somehow they both returned safely.

Just got back from Lake Michigan. Both of the piers are under water and puking out over the channel walls past the old Coast Guard station.
I’m guessing 6-8 at the present time increasing later tonight.

Danny no surfers but did see a couple of kite boarders running toward the water with all of their gear