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The Power of the Gales of November

November 9, 2020November 12, 2020 Dianna Stampfler carl d. bradley, christmas tree ship, diving, edmund fitzgerald, Francisco Morazan, freshwater, gales of november, great lakes, inland seas, islands, lake erie, lake huron, lake michigan, lake ontario, lake superior, pure michigan, rouse simmons, shipwrecks, storms, underwater preserve, upper peninsula, whitefish point

While tropical storms and hurricanes continue to attack the region in and around the Gulf of Mexico, the “Gales of November” are stirring up the Great Lakes region just as they have for centuries. This unique weather phenomenon is created when cold, dry air from northern Canada converges with moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, over the still warm summer waters of the Great Lakes.

Throughout the history of the Great Lakes, November has been a prime month for shipwrecks. According to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point (Paradise, Lake Superior), there are over 6,000 shipwrecks throughout the five Great Lakes – with an estimated loss of 30,000 lives. More than 60 of these ships have met their demise during the month of November – the most notably, the Edmund Fitzgerald which sank on November 10, 1975.