Today marks the 40th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, an ore-carrying cargo ship that went down in eastern Lake Superior on November 10, 1975 in a very strong mid-latitude cyclone with extremely high waves. Twenty-nine sailors went down with the ship that night.
The cause of the wreck is still not completely understood but many posts, articles and some television shows were produced to discuss it, combining the effects of the high waves with leaking hatch covers. Other ships have gone down on the Great Lakes in the past, but this one has entered the hall of legends with the haunting (and meteorologically accurate) song by Gordon Lightfoot. You might be forgiven for thinking this happened much longer ago, because the song has a timeless quality that makes it sound ageless.
Here in the Southeast, it was just another strong storm system that came through the area. But for folks in the Midwest, it was devastating, with many reports of wind damage, low pressures, and high waves in the Great Lakes. Large storms like this often come through the Midwest in mid-November; others include the Armistice Day storm of 1941 and the “Son of the Fitz” storm of 1998. Another similar but not quite as strong storm is moving across the Great Lakes today.
Here are some links to more stories:
CIMSS Satellite blog showing satellite loops of similar storms
CIMSS weather of the Edmund Fitzgerald
And a YouTube video with the famous song (there are other versions out there, but this is the one most people remember):
