A Meteorologist Explains How Lake Superior Turns Deadly And Why The Edmund Fitzgerald Was Lost

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hi, this is Meteorology Steve Pelletier.
I am the Weatherman.
Thanks for checking in to theWeatherman Pont.com on the
Monday.
It's the 10th day of the monthof November, 2025, and it's the
50th anniversary of the loss ofthe Edmonton Fitzgerald in Lake
Superior.
Now, information about this isgiven to us by our good friend
Jeff Morrison, who has alwaysbeen interested in weather since

(00:20):
he was a small kid, and he hasbeen collecting New Jersey
weather data for 50 years andhas been providing local
observations to us here at IonWeather since 1979.
Jeff has been a longtime memberand friend of the North Jersey
Weather Observers, along withbeing a local Kokorush,
community collaborative rain andhail snow network observer in
Somerset County.
And he provides valuableprecipitation data on this

(00:42):
nationwide network.
Jeff has a full weather stationat his home and enjoys writing
articles on a variety of weathertopics, including this one
today, the 50th anniversary ofthe loss of the Edmund
Fitzgerald in the Great Lakes.
Jeff writes, how often do wehear during the winter months by
meteorologists giving weatherreports that may say something
like, Lake effect snows burybuffalo in the area of three

(01:05):
feet of snow, or lake effectssnows continue in western New
York State for the past week?
What is it about the Great Lakesthat cause strong storms to
develop, especially in late falland winter, and dump snow
measured in feet rather thaninches?
While the Great Lakes may looklike inland seas, their weather
patterns behave with anintensity and unpredictability

(01:26):
more associated with the stormsout in the open ocean.
Their unique meteorologicalcharacter is shaped by the
lake's sheer size, geography,and seasonal temperature swings.
Stretching over 750 miles fromwest to east, the Great Lakes
hold about 20%, 20% of theworld's fresh water supply.
Their vast surface allows windsto build strength, generating

(01:49):
waves that can rival or exceedocean storms.
However, unlike the ocean, theGreat Lakes are surrounded by
land masses, which can funneland amplify storm systems.
In addition, cold Arctic air cansweep down from Canada, meeting
the relatively warm lake waters,creating sharp temperature
contrasts that intensify thewind and precipitation.

(02:11):
In the winter, these effects canproduce the blinding lake
effects snow.
In the late fall, they oftengenerate fierce gales.
Jeff writes, Lake Superior, thelargest and most northerly of
the Great Lakes, is particularlynotorious for these types of
storms.
Its size, 350 miles long, 160miles wide, and averaging about
500 feet deep, gives it thecharacteristics needed to grow

(02:34):
massive waves to unbelievableheights.
The lake's remoteness also meansthat weather systems can develop
quickly, with little advancedwarning leaving ships that
traverse the lakes potentiallyvulnerable.
By November, the lake surfacewater retains warmth while
surrounding air temperaturedrops quickly, fueling powerful
low pressure systems that cansweep across the region.
We're seeing some of those highpressures moving down on this

(02:56):
Monday and Tuesday across theGreat Lakes, so maybe some lake
effect is going to be happeningthere.
Now back to Jeff's article.
November 10th, 2025 marks the50th anniversary of the sinking
of the freighter, the EdmundFitzgerald.
Launched in 1958, the EdmundFitzgerald took its name from
the president of NorthwesternMutual Life Insurance, which
commissioned the ship.
The Fitz was a 729-footfreighter and the largest in the

(03:19):
Great Lakes at the time.
So 729 feet in 1958 was the maxon the Great Lakes.
Known as the Pride of theAmerican side, she regularly
carried taconite iron ore fromnorthern mines to steel mills in
the lower Great Lakes.
The Fitz, like other iron oreshipping vessels, had a novel
design, about as long as a73-story office building on its

(03:41):
side, but remarkably only 75feet wide.
On November 9th, the Fitzdeparted Superior, Wisconsin,
with a full load of ore boundfor Detroit.
Another voyage for the ship thathad logged more than a million
nautical miles in its 17 yearson the lakes.
This is on November 9th of thatyear.
That same day, meteorologistswere tracking the storm system
moving northeast out of thecentral plains.

(04:03):
By the morning of the 17th, ithad deepened rapidly to one of
the most severe Great Lakestorms in the previous 60 years.
Sustained winds of over 60 milesper hour were recorded, and wind
gusts of 100 miles per hour,with waves estimated to reach 25
feet and higher, rogue waves of50 feet hit ships on Lake
Superior.
The Fitz fought these conditionsthroughout the day on the 10th,

(04:25):
accompanied by anotherfreighter, the Arthur M.
Anderson.
Now around 7.10 on this day,7.10 p.m., the Fitz captain,
63-year-old Ernest McSorley, whoironically, along with a few
other of the crew members, wasplanning to retire after this
very voyage, radioed that theywere holding their own.
But minutes later, the shipvanished from the Anderson's

(04:46):
radar.
No distress signal was sent, andall 29 crew members were lost.
Investigations in underwatervideography taken over the years
have produced a variety ofpossible causes for the Fitz
sinking.
From structural failure, waterintake from the large waves that
I mentioned, some of them 25 to50 feet, and large waves that
broke over her decks.
Navigational errors and otherpossibilities were also

(05:08):
investigated.
The actual cause may never beknown.
Today, meteorologists andmariners still study the Edmund
Fitzgerald not only as amemorial to the lost crew, but
as a reminder that even withmodern forecasting, southern
wind shifts, extreme waveheights, and rapidly deepening
storms remain a serious hazardon the Great Lakes.
Now, 50 years later, the sinkingof the Edmund Fitzgerald

(05:30):
underscores a truth thatmariners on the Great Lakes have
long known.
That the Great Lakes may befreshwater inland seas, but
their storms can be very andevery bit as dangerous, more so
than those in the oceans.
Perhaps the haunting words ofthe late Canadian songwriter
Gordon Lightfoot's memorialtribute to the ship's crew in
the wreck of the EdmundsFitzgerald best describes the

(05:51):
tragedy.
And the lyrics go.
The legend lives on from theChapioa on down of the big lake
they call Kichigumi.
The lake, as it said, nevergives up her head when the skies
of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore and26,000 tons of more, then the
Edmunds Fitzgerald weighedempty.
That good ship and a crew wasboned to be chewed when the

(06:14):
gales of November came early.
Once again, thanks to JeffMorrison for sharing this
information on the 50-yearanniversary of the sinking of
the Edmund Fitzgerald in LakeSuperior.
As far as our weather isconcerned, we may start out on
this Monday morning with alittle bit of light shower
action, especially after theeast and into New England.
However, as the day wears on,the cloud cover will slowly

(06:37):
gradually give way to someclearing, and temperatures for
the day only ranging into the50s, about 50 to 55, west winds
at 5 to 15.
It'll be partly cloudy tonight,cold, overnight lows, upper 20s,
north and west, to about 30 to35 along the coast.
And it looks mostly clunny, uhactually sunshine to start the
day on Veterans Day Tuesday,with an increase in clouds on

(06:57):
the afternoon, though highs willrange up to only 40 to 45.
It's gonna be breezy and chilly.
West winds 15 to 20, gusting to40 on Veterans Day.
At night there'll be some cloudsdown to 32.
Wouldn't be surprised to seesome snow showers or flurries
across the Poconos, theCatskills, or upper New York
State as well.
And then on Wednesday back topartial sunshine, it warms up

(07:17):
just about 2.50, lows at night38.
Thursdays looking sunny 51.52 onFriday.
Uh back into the 40s forSaturday and Sunday of next
weekend.
We do get into some colderweather that will most likely
continue at that time.
Now, if you're traveling todayby air, our aviation outlook
across the nation shows the areaof low pressure that gave us

(07:38):
some rain in the mid-Atlanticand northeast during the daytime
on Sunday, and especially onSunday night, is now pulling
away rapidly across into NovaScotia into Canadian Maritimes.
In its wake, some of those snowsqualls and some lake effects
snow showers are now occurring.
We talked about with the EdmondsFitzgerald a little bit earlier.
The strongest of the stro snowsqualls will be just to the

(07:59):
south of Lake Superior, just tothe east of Lake Michigan, uh
south of Lake Erie and LakeOntario, uh, probably just
around the Buffalo to Rochesterarea in New York State and
around Cleveland, HopkinsCounty, throughout uh much of uh
northern Ohio, actuallynortheastern Ohio.
So uh some of that is happening,so that will cause some delays

(08:21):
if you're going into Clevelandor to Detroit or even into the
Chicago area.
There will be uh some very windyconditions for the early portion
of the day, but the drying outas the day wears on.
Also, because of the gussynorthwest winds or westerly
winds, there will be some delaysin North, New York, LaGuardia,
and JFK, less so in JFK, butmore so in the other airports
because of those winds andrestricted runways.
Fair weather but windy inAtlanta, good weather in central

(08:44):
and south Florida, Houston,Dallas, all looking good.
Minneapolis, St.
Paul, just cold but gettingwarmer.
It looks like dry weather in SanDiego, LA, San Francisco, but
rainy weather returns to PacificNorthwest in Portland and in
Seattle.
I've been your mother, StevePelletier.
Thanks to Jeff Morrison forgiving us that information on
the Edmund Fitzgerald or thesinking of the Edmund

(09:05):
Fitzgerald.
Uh the anniversary is on thisdate, the 10th of November.
So thanks to Jeff.
Hopefully we'll get some morestories from him.
Maybe we can get him to come onuh the weathermanpod.com at some
point in the future.
But uh right now, I hope youhave a good day and we'll talk
to you first thing on Tuesday.
I know it went a little bit longtoday, but I think it was worth
it.
Have a great day.
Take care.