>Seven swimmers drowned near Warren Dunes (southern Michigan on
>the western shore) during and after that storm went through.
>Must have been quite a storm.
I'm still piecing together the timeframe on that tragedy. There
were several MAJOR storms that marched through, one after
another. I think I was passing through the Warren Dunes area
when that happened. Could explain why there were ZERO State
Troopers on the highway down there.
The biggest problem that most people don't have a clue about, is
that the Lake Michigan shoreline has unusual sloping due to the
normal wave action and type of sand. When the waves kick up
from a storm like that the undertow is deadly. If you are
standing in 1-meter of water, the flow from the knees down is
nearly straight out and it is parallel to the shoreline from the
knees up. It is so strong that it will knock you right off your
feet.
Almost always, the drownings occur (with good swimmers) when
people try to swim back to their spot of origin instead of just
swimming towards shore. One time, when I was in my early 20's I
got cought about 200 meters offshore (third sandbar) by one of
these "riptides". By the time I finally made it back to shore I
was nearly a full mile down the lake.
Lest you think the current is being overstated, when it is
ripping down the shoreline like it probably was the other day,
the current is so strong that the suspended sand in the water
stings your feet and legs if you are standing in it.
Speaking of storms, we've been getting blasted here for the past
three days. Two days ago, a super-cell (a REALLY BIG
super-cell) formed about 20 miles SW of home. In 35 minutes it
went from haze to dropping 4-5" hailstones on our town. Within
about two hours this one storm had spawned four or five distinct
super-cells and the anvils bloomed over a three-state area.
There were a few tornados, but the storms never built a core
rotation strong enough to support substantial tornado formation.
Sorry folks, no OM content. Just reflecting on life in the
midwest.
AG
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