See this year’s winning photos in the annual “Wisconsin’s Great Lakes” photo contest. This slide show includes 33 beautiful images of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior submitted by photographers in Wisconsin and beyond.
Tag Archives: Lake Superior
30″ of snow in 24 hours on the South Shore
Snow cover is pretty sparse here in the Twin Cities but up north however, 30 inches fell in a 24 hour period. Snowmobiling, skiing, let’s go!
46 foot wave possibly doomed the Edmund Fitzgerald 36 years ago
The intense and dangerous wind storm and accompanying high waves the Great Lakes states experienced in late October is thought to be the same kind of storm that occurred on Lake Superior causing the fatal wreck of the ship Edmund Fitzgerald 36 years ago today. A University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute-funded researcher is studying extreme waves in hopes of preventing future tragedies.
Extratropical cyclones are characterized by very strong winds carried over a long distance generating large waves. Buoys on the northern part of Lake Superior recorded waves as high as 27 feet in the recent storm. But the lake might have been even rougher during the Edmund Fitzgerald storm on Nov. 10, 1975, according to a scientific process called hindcasting, the opposite of forecasting.
Using a combination of observational data and computer modeling, scientists at NOAA’s National Weather Service and the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Michigan show that sustained winds were likely blowing at 50 to 60 knots, roughly 57 to 69 miles per hour. Winds of that velocity would have generated waves about 24.6 feet high.
Such rough conditions could have produced an individual wave 46 feet high, although “rare and unlikely,” according to the NOAA scientists. No one will know exactly what caused the demise of the Edmund Fitzgerald because all 29 crew members perished. However, computer models showed that one such wave – known as a freak, rogue or giant wave – occurred at the exact time and location of the ship’s sinking.
Freak waves are exceptionally large, steep and asymmetric and often occur in the Great Lakes, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Chin-Hsien Wu. He is currently investigating the conditions and locations prone to producing the dangerous waves, which can take down a vessel like the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Freak waves can also be dangerous to kayakers and recreational boaters. Wu is particularly interested in the potential for rogue waves to occur in the Apostle Islands off the north shore of Lake Superior.
“The occurrence of extreme waves is still a mysterious phenomenon in the field of fluid mechanics,” said Wu, professor of civil and environmental engineering. The Apostle Islands include a complex network of islands and shoals that under the right wind conditions are likely to produce freak waves.
The 729 foot ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a November storm on Lake Superior November 10, 1975
Enjoy an Apple-licious weekend in Bayfield, WI!
50th Annual Bayfield Apple Festival, October 7th – 9th
The Bayfield Apple Festival is listed among the “Top Ten Autumn Festivals in North America” by the Society of American Travel Writers. It has also been touted as one of Discover Wisconsin’s “Top Ten Favorite Small Town Festivals.”
Throughout the three day weekend, Bayfield’s historic streets are filled with local orchard owners selling bags of fresh apples and apple delicacies. Take a stroll along Orchard Lane and you’ll find yourself in apple heaven: caramel apples, apple pies, apple tortes, dumplings & tarts, apple sundaes, apple cider, bags and bushels of apples – even apple bratwurst, mustard, and butter – it’s all about the apples this weekend in Bayfield!
Along with over 60 orchard and food booths, you’ll find nearly 150 arts and crafts vendors throughout Bayfield’s picturesque downtown and the lakeside Memorial Park. And special events take place throughout the long weekend; Big Top Chautauqua’s Blue Canvas Orchestra will be treating guests to electrifying performances on the Grandstand stage at regular intervals during the festival. This highly acclaimed, professional troupe will be unveiling an original song written for the 50th annual Apple Festival in addition to showcasing songs from their own productions. Other festivities include an Apple Pie and Dessert Contest and Community Pie Social on Thursday evening, traditional performances by the Ojibwe Drum and Dance troop, an Apple Peeling Contest on Saturday afternoon, and a glittering Venetian Boat Parade through the harbor on Saturday evening, including a pre-event concert by the Pipes and Drums of Thunder Bay. The weekend’s grand finale – a hometown parade featuring over 80 entries – will have several exceptional touches for the 50th year, including a 600 member Mass Band with a special musical arrangement, and the return of nearly 50 years worth of Apple Festival royalty starting at 2:00pm on Sunday afternoon.
Couple these activities with the spectacular scenic beauty of this quaint harbor town and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, and it’s no wonder that Bayfield draws over 50,000 visitors to this yearly celebration of the fall harvest.
Download an Apple Festival schedule of activities on bayfield.org, visit our Apple Festival Facebook page or call (800) 447-4094 for more information.
Earthquake hits Minnesota yesterday
No my friends, earthquakes are not caused by the non-existent fairy tale of climate change. I want to get that primitive myth put to bed right away.
We had an earthquake here in Minnesota yesterday morning at 2:20 with the epicenter near Alexandria.
Alexandrea, MN – A small earthquake rattled parts of Southwestern Minnesota early this [Friday] morning.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a 2.5 magnitude quake shook the city of Alexandria around 2:20 this morning.
There was no reported damage from the small earthquake and no reports of injuries.
Those who live in the area likened the rumble to that of a loud clap of thunder.
Some felt their homes shake for a couple of seconds.
Earthquakes are extremely rare in Minnesota.
The last time one was reported was in 1994 in South Central Minnesota.
It was recorded at 3.1 on the Richter Scale.
I don’t know that I’d be saying earthquakes as “extremely rare” in Minnesota, rare yes, but not “extremely” as you can clearly see, 17 years ago we were hit with one. Earthquakes in Minnesota average one every 10 years dating back 120 years. In 1975 we got hit with a whopper (by our standards), 4.6 quake centered in Morris that we felt 111 miles away in Fargo.
Here’s a little info on that one:
The 1975 Morris earthquake occurred in Morris, Minnesota, on July 9, 1975 at 14:54:15 UTC, or 9:54 a.m. The earthquake was the strongest instrumentally recorded rupture in the history of the state, at magnitude 4.6 on the Richter scale. It was the first earthquake to be recorded on any seismic instrument in the state since 1917. Tremors were felt over much of Minnesota, northern Iowa and the eastern Dakotas….
The earthquake caused moderate damage, being defined as intensity VI on the Mercalli scale. Minor damage to walls and basement foundations was reported around the epicenter in Stevens County. Damage consisted of cracked plaster, falling items and pictures being knocked off walls. The quake also cracked the foundations of two homes on East Fifth Street in Morris. Many reports included extremely loud “bangs” and “explosions”. These sounds lead to one man thinking that a nearby gas plant had exploded. If the earthquake had occurred elsewhere, however, it may have caused a larger amount of damage.
The next question may be, does Minnesota have a fault line? Actually, that question should be rephrased to this. Is there a tectonic fault line in Minnesota? The answer is yes. It is called the Great Lakes Tectonic Zone:
The Great Lakes tectonic zone is a major Precambrian crustal feature more than 1,200 km long extending eastward from Minnesota into Ontario, Canada. It is a zone of distinctive tectonism, affecting both Archean and early Proterozoic rocks, along the northern margin of the early Proterozoic Penokean fold belt adjacent to the Archean Superior province. The zone coincides with the boundary between two Archean crustal segments recognized in the region: a greenstone-granite terrane (~2,700 m.y. old) to the north (Superior province) and an older (in part 3,500 m.y. old) gneiss terrane to the south.
Now that we have established the fact that Minnesota is not immune from earthquakes, and as we all know by now, tsunami’s are caused by earthquakes, is it possible for a Lake Superior tsunami? Oh yes, yes indeed. And it would be much more powerful and devastating than the regular ocean tsunami’s.
WCCO TV’s Jason DeRusha summarizes:
It actually could be more devastating than in an ocean. That’s because in Lake Superior, it would trigger underwater landslides which could send incredible waves hurdling towards the shore.
Science has established that it was possible a 46 foot wave did in the 729 foot ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald. So imagine a 45 foot wave bearing down on Duluth at 600 mph. Complete devastation. You won’t have a few hours to get away from it, you would have mere minutes, maybe less. Not enough time.
So, there’s your science lesson for the day folks. It’s quite interesting, don’t you agree?
UP NORTH: Surf’s up during the spring storm
During the spring storm of a week and a half ago, the surf was up and some hearty souls enjoyed a little early spring surfing on the big lake near Duluth.