# unbelievably strong winds on Lake Erie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 18, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievably-strong-winds-on-lake-erie/369168 "2006-08-18T01:21:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Webner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/0ea827/32.png) [@Webner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Webner)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievably-strong-winds-on-lake-erie/369168/1 "2006-08-18T01:21:11Z")
My friend says that in recent history winds on Lake Erie were so strong that they uncovered a significant portions of the lake. He remembers seeing pictures of people walking safely on the bottom ofr the lake. I can’t believe it and a google search turns up nothing. Is there any truth in what my friend says? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievably-strong-winds-on-lake-erie/369168/2 "2006-08-18T01:31:00Z")
I recall a drought some years ago that was so severe Lake Erie actually receded somewhat from its traditional shoreline. Maybe your friend saw a photo of people walking along the exposed lakebed. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievably-strong-winds-on-lake-erie/369168/3 "2006-08-18T01:36:02Z")
Lake Erie is shallow and aligned with the winds: [Fluctuations in Lake Levels - types](http://chswww.bur.dfo.ca/danp/fluctuations_e.html) > [@](#): > > Short-period > > These fluctuations, lasting from a less than an hour to several days, are caused by meteorological conditions. The effect of wind and differences in barometric pressure over the lake surface create temporary imbalances in the water level at various locations. Storm surges are largest at the ends of an elongated basin, particularly when the long axis of the basin is aligned with the wind. In deep lakes such as Lake Ontario, the surge of water level rarely exceeds 0.5 metre, but in shallow Lake Erie, water-level differences from one end of the lake to the other of more than 5 metres have been observed. Although the range of fluctuations may be large, there are only minor changes in the volume of water in the lake. A seiche is the free oscillation of water in a closed or semi-closed basin; it is frequently observed in harbours, bays, lakes and in almost any distinct basin of moderate size. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievably-strong-winds-on-lake-erie/369168/4 "2006-08-18T01:52:25Z")
A path through Lake Erie is a preferred route for Jews to leave New York state and flee into Canada should it ever be needed. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievably-strong-winds-on-lake-erie/369168/5 "2006-08-18T01:57:05Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] A path through Lake Erie is a preferred route for Jews to leave New York state and flee into Canada should it ever be needed. [/QUOTE] That would be Robert Moses parting the waters? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievably-strong-winds-on-lake-erie/369168/6 "2006-08-18T03:24:01Z")
Well, the Robert Moses Highway does run along the Niagara River, which runs from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. And you can walk on that… Nuts. The average depth of Lake Erie is 62 feet (19 m) and its maximum depth of 210 feet (64 m). Try to get to the bottom of that with a strong wind. Tell your friend he or she is full of it. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievably-strong-winds-on-lake-erie/369168/7 "2006-08-18T04:35:39Z")
A path across Lake Erie is beyond improbable to ludicrous. However, note the cited reference to changes of depth up to five meters provided by **Squink**. Now take a look at the depths of [Lake Erie in the Western Basin](http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/greatlakes/lakeerie_cdrom/html/e_area7.htm). Notice that the entire Michigan shore and the Ohio Shore from Toledo East as far as Catawba Island (the broad peninsula jutting directly into the lake in line with the Bass Islands) shows the five meter mark as no fewer than four kilometers (2.48 miles) from the shore. Now, I suspect that the five meter reference is to an end-to-end variance, meaning one end might drop by 2.5 meters while the other rises by 2.5 meters. This still means that under a prolonged West-Southwesterly wind, approximately one mile of shore may be denuded of water to a distance of around a mile (or more up near the thriving metropolis of Luna Pier, MI). I have not personally seen the water recede that distance, but I have often travelled SR 2 along the Ohio shore and noted a change in depth (as marked by water levels in the drainage ditches West of the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant) of over four feet, with the channels apparently dry under a strong WSW wind while they nearly overflow the highway when a freak Northeast wind blows the water the other direction. I doubt that extended dry land is a common occurrence, but I see no reason to doubt that, on occasion, Lake Erie has receded from the shores of Luna Pier or Reno Beach, OH by a distance of a mile or more. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievably-strong-winds-on-lake-erie/369168/8 "2006-08-18T14:56:09Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] A path across Lake Erie is beyond improbable to ludicrous. However, note the cited reference to changes of depth up to five meters provided by **Squink**. Now take a look at the depths of [Lake Erie in the Western Basin](http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/greatlakes/lakeerie_cdrom/html/e_area7.htm). Notice that the entire Michigan shore and the Ohio Shore from Toledo East as far as Catawba Island (the broad peninsula jutting directly into the lake in line with the Bass Islands) shows the five meter mark as no fewer than four kilometers (2.48 miles) from the shore. Now, I suspect that the five meter reference is to an end-to-end variance, meaning one end might drop by 2.5 meters while the other rises by 2.5 meters. This still means that under a prolonged West-Southwesterly wind, approximately one mile of shore may be denuded of water to a distance of around a mile (or more up near the thriving metropolis of Luna Pier, MI). I have not personally seen the water recede that distance, but I have often travelled SR 2 along the Ohio shore and noted a change in depth (as marked by water levels in the drainage ditches West of the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant) of over four feet, with the channels apparently dry under a strong WSW wind while they nearly overflow the highway when a freak Northeast wind blows the water the other direction. I doubt that extended dry land is a common occurrence, but I see no reason to doubt that, on occasion, Lake Erie has receded from the shores of Luna Pier or Reno Beach, OH by a distance of a mile or more. [/QUOTE] I live near to Toledo, and have a friend who has a house in Luna Pier right along the lakeshore (climb over the rather massive concrete wall built to restrain winter ice and walk the lake shore). On days with a strong enough wind, the water can be seen to have receded significantly. I originally thought it was a rather interesting example of lake tides, until someone laughed at me for mentioning that thought… :eek: