Wind inland and no wind at superior

[fatdaddy]

John,

I was at our cabin in Presque Isle, WI last week and the wind was really blowing. We decided to head to Lake Superior and look at the huge waves. We went to Black River harbor and when we got there the lake was calm, I mean barly a ripple. Why would the lake be so calm and then 40 miles south it was blowing like crazy

 

[admin]

It's a good question and one that I cannot answer with certainty, without being able to have surface and upper air data available to me.

Winds are caused by a pressure difference and can be enhanced or diminished by temperatures in the region. I can only speculate that the cooler waters of the lake had some kind of a negative effect on the winds in the region.

Typically you would expect to find stronger winds near the lake because of less surface friction working to slow the winds down.

Sorry I could not be more specific with this one.

-John

 

[brad]

Fatdaddy,

As you didn't elaborate on the wind direction, perhaps the wind was blowing off the land mass out over the water, as opposed to the wind blowing onto the land mass. The waves could have been huge on the other side of the lake, but the lake surface where you were appeared relatively calm. Just a thought...........

 

[fatdaddy]

Our cabin is approx 40 miles south of Lake superior and the wind was blowing hard from the north. This is why we thought Lake superior would have huge wave to play in. Now I know in the winter it can be snowing like crazy in the UP and when we get home they got no snow at all. I just thought perhaps it was the opposite in the summer. The temp felt warmer by the lake as well but this could be from the lack of wind.