Remembering the November 1913 White Hurricane
Posted by hanna on 11/7/2013, 7:33 pm
| Date Posted: November 7, 2013 Storms along the Great Lakes have haunted sailors for more than a century and, in fact, served as one of the motivating factors for the creation of a national weather service when, in 1869, Rep. Halbert E. Paine of Wisconsin introduced a bill that called for the establishment of a weather warning service under the Secretary of War. From the storms of the 1860s to the fierce "November Witch" that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975, one Great Lakes storm stands out as the deadliest. Nicknamed the "White Hurricane," this major winter storm stuck the Great Lakes on November 7-10, 1913, resulting in a dozen major shipwrecks, with an estimated 250 lives lost. It remains the largest inland maritime disaster in U.S. history. This historic storm system brought blizzard conditions with hurricane force winds to the Great Lakes. The unique and powerful nature of the storm caught even the most seasoned captain by surprise, as two low pressure centers merged and rapidly intensified over the Lake Huron, with periods of storm-force winds occurring over a four day period. Vessels at the time withstood 90 mph winds and 35 foot waves, but it was the whiteout conditions and accumulation of ice on the ships that turned an already dangerous situation into a deadly one, as ship captains were unable to maintain navigation.  The 504-foot steel bulk freighter Isaac M. Scott disappeared during the storm, with a loss of 28 lives. fOR REST OF THE STORY: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/com/weatherreadynation/news/131107_white.html#.Unwvyif4iK- |
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