Marine High Wind — Silver Bay Hbr To Two Hbrs Mn, Lake Superior

2018-10-09 to 2018-10-10 · near Two Harbors Lakeside, Silver Bay Hbr To Two Hbrs Mn, Lake Superior

Event narrative

The freighter Algowood reported wind gusts as high as 75 knots (85 MPH) around 11:30PM the evening of the 9th. The winds and waves caused damage to the ship to the point where it had to enter a dry dock for repairs in Thunder Bay, Ontario, as soon as it made it there.

Wider weather episode

An autumn storm hit the Northland and brought strong winds, driving rain and some snow. The hardest hit area was the western end of Lake Superior, where winds gusting over 60 mph caused tremendous waves to crash on to shore. The crashing waves and storm surge, aided by an elevated water level of Lake Superior, caused considerable damage to Duluth's Lakewalk and flooded Duluth's Canal Park. There was also major damage to Duluth's Brighton Beach with damage to the road and major erosion to the shoreline as well as a tremendous amount of debris that was strewn across the park from the powerful waves. The winds increased during the evening of October 9th with northeast wind gusts reaching over 30 mph. By morning winds gusts were near 50 mph at the Duluth Airport. The winds remained gusty in the 35 to 50 mph range all day and decreased to below 30 mph after 7:00 pm. Some highest wind gusts include 86 mph from the Canadian freighter Algowood off the north shore near Castle Danger, 64 mph and 20 foot waves from the Canadian ship the CSL Assinibione as it was anchored near Duluth, 55 mph in east Duluth, 52 mph at Glensheen Mansion and 46 mph at the Duluth Airport. All of these highest gusts were recorded the morning of October 10th. At 10 am on the 10th, the Areal Lift Bridge in Duluth's Canal Park recorded a steady wind from 40 to 45 mph and 5 to 9 feet waves. Later that afternoon waves were 10 feet in the ship canal. The storm was caused by a strong low pressure area that developed in the Texas Panhandle on October 9th. By Wednesday, October 10th, the center of the low was over far southern Minnesota while high pressure as situated across much of Canada. Temperatures to the north of the low were in the 40s and south of the low they were in the 70s. This strong gradient in temperature and pressure helped create the strong northeast winds that blew across Lake Superior. The long fetch and the high Lake Superior water level contributed to the high waves and storm surge. Lake Superior levels were almost a foot higher than October normal. By Thursday, October 11th, the low's center was over eastern Lake Superior which caused the winds to become northwesterly and calmed the Lake Superior waves.

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Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 789953. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.