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On October 25, 2010 I posted a blog entry in which I mentioned a major storm developing in Minnesota. I said it might rival the storm of November 9-10, 1975 that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald on the east end of Lake Superior.  In fact, this year’s storm lasted parts of three days.  It produced severe weather  that involved more than half of North America. 

The barometric pressure was one of the lowest ever recorded in the U.S.   For the record, adjustments had to be made;  28.21 inches was recorded at 5:13 pm at Bigfork in Itasca County, Minnesota.  At Little Marais on the North Shore of Lake Superior,  about 200 miles southeast of Big Fork, my low barometer reading was a couple of hours earlier, 28.35 inches.  I did not make adjustments. 

Several reports described the storm in terms of a hurricane.  At the time of these low barometer records, the wind was not that strong at Little Marais. It was like being near the eye of a hurricane.  That hour between 3 and 4 PM, the wind shifted from northeast gale force  to storm force southwest winds.   Large rolling waves from the northeast, wave heights 7-9 feet within 100 yards of shore, met steeper waves building from the southwest.  Northeast waves get an extra push from a prevailing northeast current along the north shore, which added to the chaotic choppiness.  Before the storm force winds reached shore, I could already see waves exceeding 12 feet high about two miles out.

Winds had been sustained at about 30 miles per hour with frequent gusts near 40 miles per hour.  By 5 PM, a large blue spruce tree had broken along the lakeside less than 100 feet from our boathouse/cabin, where my wife has her office.  The southwest winds were sustained at about 40 miles per hour with frequent gusts to 50 miles per hour until 2 AM.  I discovered two more fallen trees the next morning.

October 28, we were still experiencing gale force northwest winds until about 4 PM, after the storm center has passed far to the north.

Here’s a link to a report by the Minnesota State Climatology Office.  Within it is another link to a report by the National Weather Service Office in Duluth.  I also have been following stories posted on Facebook by Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chicago.

MN Climatology Working Group Report

 

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