Minnesota Meso Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 I thought about putting this in the General Discussion Thread, but it really belongs here. I sure some of you have seen this, but others may not have. For a excellent reanalysis of the storm here is the link. It's a fabulous read. http://www.glerl.noa...06/20060016.pdf "The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald." Credits....In the title and in the bold quotes above, from Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpartyOn Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 25-30 footers caused awful dogging of the haul. Fully loaded and leaky hatches also. She was doomed. The side theories... Poor navigation due to storm conditions cause her to veer off corse and she bottomed out on the rocky 6th fathom shoal. One thing is for sure....it will happen again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minnesota Meso Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 25-30 footers caused awful dogging of the haul. Fully loaded and leaky hatches also. She was doomed. The side theories... Poor navigation due to storm conditions cause her to veer off corse and she bottomed out on the rocky 6th fathom shoal. One thing is for sure....it will happen again. Damage had been done before she met her fate, that is for certain as was communicated between her and the Arthur M Anderson. But ultimately were they the direct cause of her demise? I think they were obliviously all a contributing factor. However I am a proponent of the sister wave phenomenon that could have lead directly to her demise. One to Three 25-35 footers very close to each other, each succeeding one bigger than the previous one. The first forces her nose (bow) down and before she can recover, a second or third one forces so far down that it was impossible to recover. How else could she be on the Anderson's radar scan and be gone the next? At any rate a real good book, but little known is titled "The Night the Fitz Went Down" authored by Hugh E Bishop. He interviewed Capt Dudley J Paquette who was on the lake that night and was known at the time as the weather guru of Great Lakes Captains. His charts disagreed with the NWS at that time. He went as far as plotting a course that would take him between Isle Royal and the north shore of MN in the event he had to take shelter in Thunder Bay. Which he actually did. Anyway a good read, I just wish that his hand drawn chats were on line somewhere. I sure hope it doesn't happen again with today's technology, but I'm afraid your right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minnesota Meso Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 This is my favorite you-tube video of Gordon Lightfoot singing the famous song. From minutes 432-448 could you imagine waves big enough that would equal the highest point of that great lakes freighter? it kind of puts in perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Something that I came across when I was coming up with the list of the top tornado outbreaks...there was a severe weather outbreak associated with this Edmund Fitzgerald storm. It was a nocturnal event for areas east of the Mississippi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonger Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Check out the sustained winds and gusts during the time of sinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinook Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I think about this shipwreck a lot, as well as the "White Hurricane." The captain of the ship, Ernest McSorley was a Canadian, living in Toledo. When I was a kid, I went to the Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, so the Fitzgerald seems real to me. I stuck my feet in Lake Superior at Whitefish Point, and it was none too warm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormtrackertf Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Something that I came across when I was coming up with the list of the top tornado outbreaks...there was a severe weather outbreak associated with this Edmund Fitzgerald storm. It was a nocturnal event for areas east of the Mississippi. nov1975.png SSM Fitzgerald..jpg Check out the sustained winds and gusts during the time of sinking. Didn't know about the tornadoes that day. Funny that blizzard conditions and an F1 tornado happened in Michigan at the same time, just goes to show you how wildly different the UP and LP can be during this time of year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonger Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Didn't know about the tornadoes that day. Funny that blizzard conditions and an F1 tornado happened in Michigan at the same time, just goes to show you how wildly different the UP and LP can be during this time of year. Michigan is the largest state east of the Mississippi, huge climo difference between Houghton and Monroe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 It was 70 degrees at LAF at 2 AM on the 10th. You know a warm sector of a well-developed system was in play as it would be difficult to be that warm at that time of night without one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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