Algoma Niagara headed for Toledo drydock

Algoma Niagara left Sarnia Tuesday morning before sunrise under tow of tugs Wyatt M and Meredith Ashton for Ironhead Marine Inc. in Toledo for unspecified mechanical repairs. She had been in Sarnia since November 11 and her next destination was to be Goderich.

Why the Great Lakes
have the Gales of November

Many who have lived in Michigan for a while know that November has a tendency to have stronger storm systems and strong winds, especially over the Great Lakes. Several storms packing gale-force winds have landed in the history books for being destructive and deadly around this time of year, and there is a reason for that.

First, let’s start off with what exactly a gale is, forecasting-wise. Gale warnings are issued over water by the National Weather Service and are similar to wind advisories on land. Gale warnings will take effect when the sustained wind speed or frequent gusts reach the range of 39 to 55 mph.

During these warnings, traveling on the water can be hazardous due to the strong winds and the large waves they churn up, so it’s best to find safe harbor. The next level up from gale warnings are storm warnings, which are issued when sustained winds or frequent gusts reach 55 to 73 mph. In a more general sense of the word, gales are considered strong winds.

Over the years, Michigan has had a lot of famous storms that were related to strong gales, some of them having storm warnings associated with them. The storm that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald was one such storm, which caused the deaths of the entire crew onboard the ship. An older case was the White Hurricane in 1913, that led to 250 deaths and caused extensive damage to ships on Lake Huron and the coastal city of Port Huron.

Both of these cases were caused by rapidly intensifying low pressure systems that moved across the Great Lakes region that led to strong winds and heavy precipitation as a result of that intensification.

The reason why these strong storms tend to occur around November has to do with the meteorological setup during this time of year. In late fall, storm systems from Canada tend to follow a track that leads them into the Great Lakes region where they rapidly intensify, increasing the likelihood of strong winds. This movement is due to the jet stream’s location this time of year.
As we move through autumn, the jet stream shifts generally to the south as the sun’s angle shifts, causing low-pressure systems to take different paths than they do in the summertime. During the fall, the difference between areas of high and low temperature also increases due to temperatures starting to cool off, which can lead to more intense fronts and stronger winds with storm systems.

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