Background
During autumn, cold, dry air moving south from northern Canada converges with warm, moist air moving north from the Gulf of Mexico, forming large storm systems in the middle of the North American continent. Several of these systems move along preferred paths toward the Great Lakes. When the cold air from these storms moves over the lakes, it is warmed by the waters below. This added heat postpones the Arctic spread in the region, allowing the lakes to remain relatively warm for much later into the year.
In November, two storm tracks converge over the Great Lakes. One travels southeastward from the province of Alberta; the other brings storms from the lee of the central Rocky Mountains northeast toward the Great Lakes. This convergence is commonly referred to as a "November gale" or "November witch". When a cyclonic system moves over the lakes, its power is intensified by the jet stream above and the warm waters below. This allows the storm to maintain hurricane-force wind gusts, produce waves over 50 feet (15 m) high, and dump several feet of snow or inches of rain. Fuelled by the warm lake water, these powerful storms may remain over the Great Lakes for days. Intense winds then ravage the lakes and surrounding shores, severely eroding the shoreline, and flooding the shorelines.
November gales have been a bane of the Great Lakes, with at least 25 killer storms striking the region since 1847. See, Great Storms of the North American Great Lakes. During the Big Blow of 1905, twenty-seven wooden vessels were lost. During a November gale of 1975, the giant ore bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank suddenly, without a distress signal.
Read more about this topic: List Of Victims Of The 1913 Great Lakes Storm
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