Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area and the third-largest freshwater lake by volume, holding 13% of the fresh water in all of the world's rivers and lakes. Located in central North America, it is the northernmost and westernmost of the Great Lakes of North America, straddling the Canada–United States border with the Canadian province of Ontario to the north and east and the U.S. states of Minnesota to the west and Michigan and Wisconsin to the south. It drains into Lake Huron via St. Marys River, then through the lower Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence River and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean.
SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes and remains the largest to have sunk there. She was located in deep water on November 14, 1975, by a U.S. Navy aircraft detecting magnetic anomalies, and found soon afterwards to be in two large pieces.
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a 1976 hit song written, composed and performed by the Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot to memorialize the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. Lightfoot considered this song to be his finest work.
Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of Lake Superior between Michigan, United States, and Ontario, Canada. It is located between Whitefish Point in Michigan and Whiskey Point along the more rugged, largely wilderness Canadian Shield of Ontario. The international border runs through the bay, which is heavily used by shipping traffic northbound from and southbound to the Soo Locks.
The 1940 Atlantic hurricane season was a generally average period of tropical cyclogenesis in 1940. Though the season had no official bounds, most tropical cyclone activity occurred during August and September. Throughout the year, fourteen tropical cyclones formed, of which nine reached tropical storm intensity; six were hurricanes. None of the hurricanes reached major hurricane intensity. Tropical cyclones that did not approach populated areas or shipping lanes, especially if they were relatively weak and of short duration, may have remained undetected. Because technologies such as satellite monitoring were not available until the 1960s, historical data on tropical cyclones from this period are often not reliable. As a result of a reanalysis project which analyzed the season in 2012, an additional hurricane was added to HURDAT. The year's first tropical storm formed on May 19 off the northern coast of Hispaniola. At the time, this was a rare occurrence, as only four other tropical disturbances were known to have formed prior during this period; since then, reanalysis of previous seasons has concluded that there were more than four tropical cyclones in May before 1940. The season's final system was a tropical disturbance situated in the Greater Antilles, which dissipated on November 8.
The 1935 Atlantic hurricane season was a near-normal hurricane season. Altogether, ten tropical cyclones developed, eight of which intensified into tropical storms. Five of those tropical storms strengthened into hurricanes, while three of those reached major hurricane intensity. The season ran from June 1 through November 15, 1935.
The Great Lakes Storm of 1913, historically referred to as the Big Blow, the Freshwater Fury and the White Hurricane, was a blizzard with hurricane-force winds that devastated the Great Lakes Basin in the Midwestern United States and Southwestern Ontario, Canada, between November 7 and 10, 1913. The storm was most powerful on November 9, battering and overturning ships on four of the five Great Lakes, particularly Lake Huron.
Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carriers operating on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. Freighters typically have a long, narrow hull, a raised pilothouse, and the engine located at the rear of the ship.
The 1915 Atlantic hurricane season was an active Atlantic hurricane season in which six tropical storms developed. The first storm, which remained a tropical depression, appeared on April 29 near the Bahamas, while the final system, also a tropical depression, was absorbed by an extratropical cyclone well south of Newfoundland on October 22. Of the six tropical storms, five intensified into a hurricane, of which three further strengthened into a major hurricane. Four of the hurricanes made landfall in the United States. The early 20th century lacked modern forecasting and documentation, and thus, the hurricane database from these years may be incomplete.
The 1904 Atlantic hurricane season featured no tropical cyclones during the months of July and August. The season's first cyclone was initially observed in the southwestern Caribbean on June 10. After this storm dissipated on June 14, the next was not detected until September 8. The sixth and final system transitioned into an extratropical cyclone offshore South Carolina on November 4. Two of the six tropical cyclones existed simultaneously.
The 1880 Atlantic hurricane season ran through the summer and fall of 1880. This is the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. In the 1880 Atlantic season there were two tropical storms, seven hurricanes, and two major hurricanes (Category 3+). However, in the absence of modern satellite and other remote-sensing technologies, only storms that affected populated land areas or encountered ships at sea were recorded, so the actual total could be higher. An undercount bias of zero to six tropical cyclones per year between 1851 and 1885 and zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910 has been estimated. Of the known 1880 cyclones, Hurricane Six was first documented in 1995 by José Fernández-Partagás and Henry Díaz. They also proposed large changes to the known tracks of several other storms for this year and 're-instated' Hurricane Ten to the database. A preliminary reanalysis by Michael Chenoweth, published in 2014, found thirteen storms, nine hurricanes, and four major hurricanes.
The 1996 Lake Huron cyclone, commonly referred to as Hurricane Huron and Hurroncane, was an extremely rare, strong cyclonic storm system that developed over Lake Huron in September 1996. The system resembled a subtropical cyclone at its peak, bearing some characteristics of a tropical cyclone. It was the first time such a storm has ever been recorded forming over the Great Lakes region.
Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of producing anything from cloudiness and mild showers to severe hail, thunderstorms, blizzards, and tornadoes. These types of cyclones are defined as large scale (synoptic) low pressure weather systems that occur in the middle latitudes of the Earth. In contrast with tropical cyclones, extratropical cyclones produce rapid changes in temperature and dew point along broad lines, called weather fronts, about the center of the cyclone.
The Mataafa Storm of 1905 was a storm that occurred on the Great Lakes on November 27–28, 1905. The system moved across the Great Basin with moderate depth on November 26 and November 27, then east-northeastward across the Great Lakes on November 28. Fresh east winds were forecast for the afternoon and evening of November 27, with storm warnings in effect by the morning of November 28. Storm-force winds and heavy snows accompanied the cyclone's passage. The storm, named after the steamship Mataafa, ended up destroying or damaging about 29 vessels, killing 36 seamen, and causing shipping losses of US$ 3.567 million on Lake Superior.
The 1879 Atlantic hurricane season ran from the summer to near the end of autumn in 1879. In 1879 there were two tropical storms, four hurricanes, and two major hurricanes. However, in the absence of modern satellite and other remote-sensing technologies, only storms that affected populated land areas or encountered ships at sea were recorded, so the actual total could be higher. An undercount bias of zero to six tropical cyclones per year between 1851 and 1885 and zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910 has been estimated. Of the known 1879 cyclones, Hurricane One were first documented in 1995 by Jose Fernandez-Partagas and Henry Diaz. They also proposed large changes to the known tracks of Hurricanes Two, Three, Seven and Eight. Later one storm was deemed not to be a tropical cyclone at all and was dropped from the database.
The 1878 Atlantic hurricane season lasted from the summer through much of the fall. Records show that 1878 featured a relatively active hurricane season. A total of twelve storms were observed during the year. There were twelve tropical storms, eight hurricanes and two major hurricanes. However, in the absence of modern satellite and other remote-sensing technologies, only storms that affected populated land areas or encountered ships at sea were recorded, so the actual total could be higher. An undercount bias of zero to six tropical cyclones per year between 1851 and 1885 and zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910 has been estimated. Of the known 1878 cyclones, both Hurricane Three and Hurricane Four were first documented in 1995 by Jose Fernandez-Partagas and Henry Diaz, who also proposed large changes to the known tracks of Hurricanes Two, Seven and Eight. Further analysis from 2000 onwards extended the duration of Hurricane Three by one day and identified major track changes for Hurricane Five.
The 1871 Atlantic hurricane season lasted from mid-summer to late-fall. Records show that 1871 featured two tropical storms, four hurricanes and two major hurricanes. However, in the absence of modern satellite and other remote-sensing technologies, only storms that affected populated land areas or encountered ships at sea were recorded, so the actual total could be higher. According to a study in 2004, an undercount bias of zero to six tropical cyclones per year between 1851 and 1885 and zero to four per year between 1886 and 1910 is possible. A later study in 2008 estimated that eight or more storms may have been missed prior to 1878.
SS Mataafa was an American steamship that had a lengthy career on the Great Lakes of North America, first as a bulk carrier and later as a car carrier. She was wrecked in 1905 in Lake Superior just outside the harbor at Duluth, Minnesota, during a storm that was named after her. She was built as SS Pennsylvania in 1899, and renamed Mataafa when she was purchased in the same year by the Minnesota Steamship Company. After her 1905 wreck, she was raised and repaired, and served for another sixty years before being scrapped.
The 1960 North Indian Ocean cyclone season featured two deadly tropical cyclones that collectively killed approximately 20,000 people collectively in East Pakistan. The Indian subcontinent divides the North Indian Ocean into two areas: the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. The official Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre for this basin is the India Meteorological Department (IMD), while the Joint Typhoon Warning Center releases unofficial advisories. On average, five storms form in the North Indian Ocean every season with dual peaks in activity during May and November. Cyclones that occurred between 45°E and 100°E were included in seasonal records by the IMD.
