What is a "seiche"?

I wrote about the phenomenon of a "seiche" in my first book, 

A 1,000-MILE WALK ON THE BEACH.

Earlier this month, weather conditions were perfect to set up large seiche formation on both Lakes Superior and Michigan.
(For a report on the Lake Superior seiche, go HERE.)

So, what is a "seiche" (pronounced SAY-sh)?

From the NOAA website:

Seiches are typically caused when strong winds and rapid changes in atmospheric pressure push water from one end of a body of water to the other. When the wind stops, the water rebounds to the other side of the enclosed area. The water then continues to oscillate back and forth for hours or even days. 

In 1954, a large seiche formed in Lake Michigan that bounced off the eastern shoreline of SW Michigan, then rebounded back across the lake as a 10-foot wave that swept fishermen off the docks of Chicago. Eight people drown that day.

For more information on this phenomenon and photos, go here.

Massive Storm Whips Up Lake Michigan

This week one of the largest storms to ever hit the Midwest struck. High, sustained winds whipped up Lake Michigan as the barometric pressure dropped to a point lower than during the storm that sunk the Edmond Fitzgerald lake freighter in 1975.

Gusts from the storm were measured at over 60 mph near the lake. Sustained, westerly winds across Lake Michigan caused waves exceeding 20 feet tall.


This map depicts wave data from Lake Michigan on Wednesday. Orange means waves over 15 feet, red is around 20! All this wind causes a massive 'standing wave' or seiche as the lake water is pushed to the east.

Below is a photo from the roughest day on my Lake Trek. My son and I had sustained winds of 35 mph with gusts over 45.








The lake is a living entity. It can rage or whisper...murmur or scream.

And if it ices over in the winter it is briefly, eerily silent.