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Remembering the November 1913 "White Hurricane" · Short Nonfiction Collection

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  Remembering the November nineteen thirteen White Hurricane. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Storms
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  along the Great Lakes have haunted sailors for more than a century, and in
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  fact served as one of the motivating factors for the creation of a national weather
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  service when in eighteen sixty nine, Representative Halbert E. Paine of Wisconsin introduced
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  a bill that calls for the establishment of a weather warning service under the Secretary
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  of War. From the storms of the eighteen sixties to the fierce November which
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  that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald in nineteen seventy five, one Great Lakes storm stands
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  out as the deadliest. Nicknamed the White Hurricane, this major winter storm struck
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  the Great Lakes on November seventh through the tenth, nineteen thirteen, resulting in
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  a dozen major shipwrecks with an estimated two hundred and fifty lives lost. It
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  remains the largest inland maritime disaster in terms of number of ships lost in U
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  S history. This historic storm system brought blizzard conditions with hurricane force winds to
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  the Great Lakes. The unique and powerful nature of the storm caught even the
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  most seasoned captain by surprise as two low pressure centers merged and rapidly intensified over
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  Lake Huron, with periods of storm force winds occurring over a four day period.
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  Vessels at the time withstood ninety mile per hour winds and thirty five foot
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  waves, but it was the wide out conditions and accumulation of ice on the
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  ships that turned an already dangerous situation into a deadly one, as ship captains
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  were unable to maintain navigation. Maritime travel on the Great Lakes can become hazardous
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  quickly, especially when the infamous November gales blow in nineteen thirteen, Weather Bureau
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  forecasters would send gale warnings via telegraph to more than a hundred stations along the
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  Great Lakes shores, where volunteers would display flags and lanterns to warn sailors of
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  deteriorating conditions. These warnings were typically hoisted twelve to twenty four hours in advance
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  of a storm. For sailors leaving port, there was no means of knowing
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  the character of an approaching storm, and vessels beyond the sight of land were
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  unable to obtain any information. In the case of the White Hurricane, whether
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  Bureau forecasters issued gale warnings on November seventh. However, even the forecasters were
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  caught by surprise by the strength and longevity of the powerful storm. At the
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  time, weather forecasters did not have the luxury of computer models, nor the
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  detailed surface and upper air observations, whether satellites or radar, needed to make
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  the most accurate predictions. Had forecasters then been privy to today's upper air and
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  land and satellite based observing systems, they may have been able to determine the
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  likely development of this type of storm system well in advance, as they did
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  with Superstorm Sandy in twenty twelve. As part of the fore casts for Sandy,
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  National Weather Service marine forecasters were able to predict storm force winds over the
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  lower Great Lakes five days in advance. The great technology and forecast models available
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  to forecasters today led to a more accurate forecast, which saved mariners, recreational
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  boaters, and businesses countless dollars as they were able to make preparations in advance
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  of Sandy's storm force winds and near twenty foot waves. One hundred years later,
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  the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Great Lakes is commemorating the storm
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  of nineteen thirteen, not only for the pivotal role it played in the history
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  of the Great Lakes, but also for its enduring influence. Modern systems of
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  shipping, communication, weather prediction, and storm preparedness have all been fundamentally shaped
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  by the events of November nineteen thirteen. NOAA has created a centennial anniversary website
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  to remember the events of nineteen thirteen and highlight SOA's advances in technology and services.
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  Using historic Weather Bureau documents combined with information from the twentieth Century Reanalysis Project
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  provided by NOAA's Physical Sciences Division, meteorologists at the National Weather Service Detroit,
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  led by Science and Operations Officer doctor Greg Mann, were able to produce a
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  model simulation of the White Hurricane over the Great Lakes. Through this simulated storm
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  forecast, one can approximate what the wave and wind conditions were during the storm's
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  peak. The results and analysis of the simulation are available in a special presentation
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  produced by the National Weather Service Detroit. Quote the storm of nineteen thirteen was
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  one of the deadliest maritime weather disasters in North American history, said Meteorologist in
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  Charge Richard waggin Maker. Of NWS Detroit. Quote. Doing a unique numerical
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  model retrospective allows incredible insights never before possible into what happened to some of the
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  largest and newest ships in the Great Lake's fleet during that storm one hundred years
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  ago. The simulation captured wind gusts over eighty miles per hour and frequent waves
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  to thirty six feet on southern and western Lake Huron on the evening of November
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  ninth, nineteen thirteen, a six hour period during which eight ships and one
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  hundred eighty seven lives were lost. Quote, the simulation appeared amazingly accurate considering
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  limited observations for model initial conditions unquote. Wagon Maker noted NOAA plays a major
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  role of protecting maritime relics of the past, including many of the ships lost
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  in nineteen thirteen that have remained preserved deep below the surface of the Great Lakes.
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  NAA's thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a forty eight square mile area of
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  protected territory with one of America's best preserved and nationally significant collections of shipwrecks.
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  Located in northwestern Lake Huron. Thunder Bay is adjacent to one of the most
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  treacherous stretches of water within the Great Lakes system, unpredictable weather, murky fog
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  banks, sudden gales, and rocky shoals earned the area of the name Shipwreck
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  Alley. To date, more than fifty shipwrecks have been discovered within the sanctuary,
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  including the Isaac M. Scott, a five hundred and four foot steel
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  freighter lost in the storm of nineteen thirteen. The vessels and businesses that operate
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  along the Great Lakes contribute a large piece to the nation's economy. The November
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  seven through ten, nineteen thirteen storm produced an estimated six million in damages equivalent
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  to one hundred and seventeen million today. The more devastating cost of the storm
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  was the estimated loss of more than two hundred and fifty sailors. Over the
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  past century, an OAA has strived to make the Great Lakes safer and more
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  productive by providing services that protect, monitor, and perdiction the maritime environment.
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  A oaa's effort to preserve and understand our Great Lakes is not only vital to
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  the region, but to the nation as a whole. And of remembering the
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  November thirteenth White Hurricane by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration