great lakes tides?

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pine island fred

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Probably sound like a dumb question but will ask it while I am here. Since the great lakes have so much water, are there any tidal effects? Sure do envy all that fresh water you have but is in the wrong location. FRED
 
cbavier

cbavier

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Re: great lakes tides?

pine island fred said:
Probably sound like a dumb question but will ask it while I am here. Since the great lakes have so much water, are there any tidal effects? Sure do envy all that fresh water you have but is in the wrong location. FRED
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I live 75 Miles from Lake Michigan and about 85 miles from Lake Huron. I have to agree with the article just posted . Well actually the link. We don't really experience Tides,(high or low) but the wind direction does cause the Rise and Fall of the Lake water level given per Se on any given shore sometimes as much as three feet if the winds are strong and last several hours or days. I'm sure there is some effect on any Inland Lake too although probably on a small lake it wouldn't be as pronounced, but also it would takes a shorter sustained time of wind.. It takes a lot of sustained and heavy wind to move water. I do know a shallow lake say 15 ft average or less will get Violent in a hurry at the most nominal wind where as a deeper lake say 30-100 ft it takes more wind to make it boil or become violent. Remember the song by Gordon Lightfoot. The Edmund Fitzgerald. That was a Nor Eastern wind that sunk that mighty ship. There have been thousands of ships sink on the Great Lakes. I've personally saw waves 1015 ft high. That will swamp any boat and worry any ships captain. So really the Great lakes experience anything the Ocean does only maybe a slightly smaller scale. It's common to see both Great Lakes Freighters and Ocean Freighters in the Great Lakes. I hope what I've wrote makes sense and answers your question. We are in the center of the state Northern half just 100 miles south of the Mighty Mackinaw Bridge.

As I understand it.The moon is what causes the Oceans to experience tides.
 
Bondo

Bondo

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Re: great lakes tides?

Ayuh,.....

The Great Lakes do Not have Tides,....
But,...
The water in front of My house goes up,+ down almost constantly from the weather induced "Bathtub Effect".........
In significant Weather events, it can be up to a couple Feet in a few hours,.... 1 of the Worst was 2 winters ago,... A 6' surge caused Millions in Damage....And it only lasted a couple hours...
Normally it's maybe 6" either way......
 
kenmyfam

kenmyfam

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Re: great lakes tides?

I'm with Bond-o on this one. I live on Lake St Clair, although not a great lake it is attatched to Huron and Erie. Fluctuations in water level yes, tides no !!!
 
mickarch

mickarch

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Re: great lakes tides?

My father and I launch out of SE Michigan into the west basin of Lake Erie and at the end of last year, due to persistent winds from the west and a relatively dry season, the lake level was down several feet for weeks. We couldn't launch at Lake Erie Metropark, too shallow. You could see the buoys sitting on the bottom no longer floating and guys we dragging their boats in on foot from a hundred yards out. Fortunately, it's been a snowy winter and they are saying water levels should up this season!
 
P

pine island fred

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Re: great lakes tides?

Thanks for the response guys! Figured with all that water the moon had to have some effect. The site posted by JUY 74 seems that it is inconclusive but interesting. Down here in the gulf I have a winter and summer prop. Tides are noticably lower in the winter so I use a tore up SS prop. Come summer, the good prop goes back on. Hitting a hunk of coral or shell bed is a common occurance. Sure do envy the fact that you have fresh water. FRED
 
kenmyfam

kenmyfam

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Re: great lakes tides?

pine island fred said:
Thanks for the response guys! Figured with all that water the moon had to have some effect. The site posted by JUY 74 seems that it is inconclusive but interesting. Down here in the gulf I have a winter and summer prop. Tides are noticably lower in the winter so I use a tore up SS prop. Come summer, the good prop goes back on. Hitting a hunk of coral or shell bed is a common occurance. Sure do envy the fact that you have fresh water. FRED
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The fresh water is nice and sure saves on corrosion. However I still miss boating off the coast in my native England corrosion or not. I dont miss the weather though !!!!
 
K

Kaladar

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Re: great lakes tides?

I live on Georgian Bay (part of Lake Huron). The water levels have been pretty low for a few years, about 5 feet (1.5m) below the high in 1989. You have to be very careful , rocks that were usually underwater are pretty close to the surface. Keep to the marked channels and don't trust your GPS entirely , keep a lookout when going through narrow areas. But theres no prettier area in the summer. Your "fresh water envy" is justified :)
 
R

Rogue427

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Re: great lakes tides?

The fresh water is nice but are season is alittle shorter. I'am still looking at 6" of snow in the front yard and 2 snowmobiles I need to put away. ;)
 
kenmyfam

kenmyfam

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Re: great lakes tides?

Rogue427 said:
The fresh water is nice but are season is alittle shorter. I'am still looking at 6" of snow in the front yard and 2 snowmobiles I need to put away. ;)
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You got that right !!!!
 
Bondo

Bondo

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Re: great lakes tides?

Ayuh,.....

The main body of Lake Ontario doesn't Freeze,...
But,....
We've still got about 2' of Ice in the bays.....
 
dingbat

dingbat

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Re: great lakes tides?

I don't know you guys can stand it.

The winter was killing me and I didn't put the cover on the boat on Jan. 12 . The boat has been back in the water for 2 weeks now so things are all better now :)
 
D

dono16

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Re: great lakes tides?

Good stuff guys, i know in the Detroit River when the wind get blowing it sloshes the water back and fourth, bad for me im on the US side and were always loosing the water ,ive seen it go down a few feet when its bad, but yeah no tides!! Well hopefully the water rises a little bit this year!!!
 
J

jcsercsa

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May 21, 2007
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Re: great lakes tides?

cbavier said:
10-15 Ft High. :D
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Hi guys , thought it was pertty funny got this in a email today thought it would go good in this post , this is lake Superior at her best !!!!!
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