Yesterday West Michigan suffered from severe thunderstorms, and this is the result..
The national weather service has issued a "SEICHE" (saysh) warning for anyone living along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Though this warning is mainly in affect for the Chicago area. A seiche is created when strong, sustained winds move water from one part of the lake to another. Think of it like sloshing water in a bathtub. Dangerous water fluctuations, and rip currents are still possible.
I didn't find out about this until my aunt had come over to visit. My mother told me that she referred to it as a "TSUNAMI." Ha! We just both looked at each other like she was high on crack. However, after doing a little digging I found out that it was to some extent true. Though clearly over exaggerated. A lot of people are referring to it as a Derecho, which means straight wind. Yesterday was a very violent day for thunderstorms. Windy. It was extremely windy last night. Hence the "seiche" warning. Any who, I discovered that a seiche is actually a smaller version of a Tsunami though it's not as destructive. Of course, there will never be a Tsunami here. I've never heard of such a thing before. Which proves you're never too old to learn something.
(Note: In 1929, there was a seiche that flooded Chicago with 2-5 ft of water. The highest wave was 10 ft. It drowned 10 people. In 1954, there was another seiche that swept 10 fisher men off a pier. All were swept out into the lake and drowned.)
 ClassicalBeauty · Thu Jul 03, 2008 @ 10:52pm · 0 Comments |
