High Winds Tilt Lake Erie's Surface 4.7 metres

[Spiel]

High Winds Tilt Lake Erie's Surface 4.7 metres

 

 

An incredibly sharp Arctic cold front with very powerful winds in its wake passed through the Great Lakes region on January 30.

 

Behind the cold front, there were very strong westerly winds, with the highest wind reading 126 kilometres per hour recorded at Port Colborne at 6 a.m. These winds caused numerous downed trees and power lines. Local whiteout conditions due to lake-effect snow were reported and an empty Niagara-bound tractor-trailer crossing the Burlington Skyway Bridge was flipped onto its side. The storm also had a significant effect on short-term water levels, resulting in localized flooding and ice problems at the eastern end of Lake Erie and in the Niagara River.

 

Sustained winds pushed the water in Lake Erie toward the eastern end of the lake, causing a maximum positive surge (a short time-period increase in water levels often referred to as storm set-up) of 2.95 metres above pre-storm levels at Buffalo, NY. As levels rose at the eastern end of the lake, there was a corresponding negative surge (or set-down) at the western end of the lake. At Toledo, Ohio, levels fell 2.39 metres below pre-storm levels. Although the maximum positive and negative surges did not occur at the same time, for a short period of time during the storm the difference between water levels recorded at Buffalo and Toledo was more than 4.7 metres. In fact, the tilt in the lake's surface from one end to the other was more than 4 metres for more than 4 ½ hours and in excess of 3 metres for almost eight hours during the storm.

 

The storm also caused smaller, but notable, surges at other locations around the Great Lakes. For example, at Goderich and Parry Sound on Lake Huron, water levels rose approximately 0.4 and 0.6 metres, respectively, for a short period of time. On Lake Ontario, levels at Kingston increased by 0.5 metres as levels at Burlington dropped roughly 0.4 metres.

 

Please be Cautious

 

As the January storm demonstrates, local water levels can rise or fall dramatically in a very short period of time due to meteorological disturbances. Large wind-induced waves are usually superimposed on these short time-period changes. LEVEL news readers are reminded to exercise extra caution when near the water's edge during a storm event. Please don't risk being knocked over or swept into the lake by a storm-induced surge or wave.

[Greencoachdog]

We get wind tides on our coastal water too, they can give you extreme low and high tides.

 

The storm surge of a Hurricane is a real good example of an extreme wind driven high tide!