The Great Lakes Storm killed more than 250 people, destroyed 19 ships, and stranded 19 others. The financial loss in vessels alone was nearly US USD 5 million. November gales have been a bane of the Great Lakes with at least 25 killer storms striking the region since 1847.
About Great Lakes Storm of 1913 in brief
The Great Lakes Storm killed more than 250 people, destroyed 19 ships, and stranded 19 others. The financial loss in vessels alone was nearly US USD 5 million. The storm was most powerful on November 9, battering and overturning ships on four of the five Great Lakes, particularly Lake Huron. Deceptive lulls in the storm and the slow pace of weather reports contributed to the storm’s destructiveness. November gales have been a bane of the Great Lakes with at least 25 killer storms striking the region since 1847. During a November gale in 1975, the giant ore bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank suddenly with all hands, without a distress signal. During the autumn months, two major weather tracks converge over the area. When the cold air from these storms moves over the lakes, it is warmed by the waters below and picks up a spin. Such a storm can maintain hurricane-force wind gusts, produce waves over 50 feet high, and dump several inches of rain or feet of snow. Fueled by the warm lake water, these powerful storms may remain over the Great lakes for days. Intense winds ravage the lakes and surrounding shores, severely eroding and flooding the shorelines. The immense volume of water in the fiveGreat Lakes holds heat that allows the lakes to remain relatively warm for much later into the year and postpones the Arctic spread in the region.
The storm originated as the convergence of two major storm fronts, fueled by the lakes’ relatively warm waters—a seasonal process called a “November gale”. It produced 90 mph wind Gusts, waves over 35 feet high, and whiteout snowsqualls. The weather forecast in The Detroit News of Port Huron, Michigan, described the storm as “moderately severe” on Friday, November 6. On Saturday, the storm’s status had been upgraded to “severe” and it was centered over eastern Lake Superior, covering the entire lake basin. On Sunday, the weather forecast of the Port Hur on Times-Herald stated that southerly winds had remained “moderate to brisk’”. By late Sunday afternoon, storm flags were replaced with a vertical sequence of white, red, and red lanterns, indicating that a hurricane winds over 74 mph was coming over the lake. By Monday morning, storm warnings were in effect for Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and Lake Ontario. By Tuesday, storm warning status was upgraded to “severe” and the storm was moving toward Lake Hur on the other side of Lake Michigan. The storms’ strength was so strong that it almost forced the steamer Cornell ashore. The steamer ran into a sudden northerly gale and was badly damaged. This gale lasted until late November 10, almost forcing Cornell ashore, and it had caused severe damage to the ship.
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This page is based on the article Great Lakes Storm of 1913 published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 05, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
