Enter the first full day of Fall season. Below NWS forecast/observation is simply terrifying. To think an inland lake could encounter 12-18’ waves, is scary. If anybody has video please post!

Note: Lake Huron is reporting 39 knots sustained winds via Windy app.

You've heard of the "Edmund Fitzgerald"? 730' ore carrier, broke in half and sank in 75 knot winds, 10m waves, 1975 on Lake Superior. It can get rough. Flying floats on the west coast we'd cut it off at 50 knots, as long as where you were going was sheltered enough for take-off/landing.

Karmutzen wrote:You've heard of the "Edmund Fitzgerald"? 730' ore carrier, broke in half and sank in 75 knot winds, 10m waves, 1975 on Lake Superior. It can get rough. Flying floats on the west coast we'd cut it off at 50 knots, as long as where you were going was sheltered enough for take-off/landing.

You should probably link to the song, it explains everything. Have you ever seen how little freeboard those lake freighters have when they're loaded?
You kept flying right up to 50 knots of wind? Not gonna catch me out there at 50 but I guess I'm not trying to keep a schedule or make money at it.

Fraser Farmer wrote:

Karmutzen wrote:You've heard of the "Edmund Fitzgerald"? 730' ore carrier, broke in half and sank in 75 knot winds, 10m waves, 1975 on Lake Superior. It can get rough. Flying floats on the west coast we'd cut it off at 50 knots, as long as where you were going was sheltered enough for take-off/landing.

You should probably link to the song, it explains everything. Have you ever seen how little freeboard those lake freighters have when they're loaded?
You kept flying right up to 50 knots of wind? Not gonna catch me out there at 50 but I guess I'm not trying to keep a schedule or make money at it.

Love that old tune. https://youtu.be/9vST6hVRj2A

Checking the great lakes buoy a couple of hours ago the near shore buoy 3 miles off South Haven Michigan in southern Lake Michigan was reporting 11.5 ft wave heights and wind of 25 gusting to 35 kts. Unlike ocean waves the period of the great lake waves is much shorter which results in much rougher conditions for the same wave height. Several ocean going ships have broken up in storms when the ship bridges the trough and the weight of the bridge structure of the ship causes bending. The lake carriers are designed with the pilot house forward and the crew quarters and engine room aft to solve this problem. If you do a search you will find numerous photos and videos of large waves breaking high up on light houses on the harbor break walls along Lake Michigan with the spray above the light house. Try Ludington, Manistee, Holland for starters. 20 ft waves are not the norm but 10 to 15 ft waves are during storms in November and December. Calm to 6 ft waves are common with 2 to 4 ft waves by noon most days. This is for the eastern shore of Lake Michigan which is the one I am most familiar with as it is just 60 miles from here. Current Great Lakes freighters are up to 1013.5 feet in length and 100 foot beam, limited by the size of the Poe Lock which is the largest of the Soo Locks at 1200 x 105 feet. They have about a 35 ft draft. One interesting item about the Soo Locks is that 90 percent of the US iron ore passes through the locks.

Not being picky here but the buoy you show is in Lake Michigan, that's ok, I don't know the names of the islands that make up Hawaii.

Tim

Karmutzen wrote:You've heard of the "Edmund Fitzgerald"? 730' ore carrier, broke in half and sank in 75 knot winds, 10m waves, 1975 on Lake Superior. It can get rough. Flying floats on the west coast we'd cut it off at 50 knots, as long as where you were going was sheltered enough for take-off/landing.

Yes. The Edmund Fitzgerald is a well known maritime disaster. I am always fascinated with the weather of the Great Lakes. Also, the ferocious winds and waves demand respect!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

… Not being picky here but the buoy you show is in Lake Michigan, that's ok, I don't know the names of the islands that make up Hawaii.

Definitely an error! I meant the flag to be on Huron.

Thank you for the information regarding the Lakes.

I believe the Fitzgerald grounded on rocks, took on water and sank but did not break up.

Jim

This reminds me of the RMS Titanic leaving port with too few lifeboats:

Who would navigate a 729’ ship with a “hand line”?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

A fathometer was not required under USCG regulations, and Edmund Fitzgerald lacked one,[155] even though fathometers were available at the time of her sinking. Instead, a hand line was the only method Edmund Fitzgerald had to take depth soundings. The hand line consisted of a piece of line knotted at measured intervals with a lead weight on the end.The line was thrown over the bow of the ship and the count of the knots measured the water depth.[156] The NTSB investigation concluded that a fathometer would have provided Edmund Fitzgerald additional navigational data and made her less dependent on Arthur M. Anderson for navigational assistance.

Tcraftf21 wrote:I believe the Fitzgerald grounded on rocks, took on water and sank but did not break up.

Jim

It's sitting in 2 big pieces on the bottom 9f the lake, one standing upright in the mud and one capsized 50 degrees off. Definitely broke up, but I don't think they've ever figured out the exact cause.

I live near Saugatuck south of Holland and driving into work early this morning it was really windy

I can't even read this thread without thinking about the song in my head

In that case you can’t read this thread without tears in your eyes