Thanks Brian. Is it possible to guess cloud formations with the data given?
I've been trying to upload the 1996 Hurricane "Huron" image and the 2014 gale that wreaked havoc on the lower Lake Huron shoreline. Both were cyclonic and had a pretty well defined eye, but both would have been weaker than a category 1. I understand that the 1913 storm would have been a weaker hurricane if it it was cyclonic and had a defined eye like one report states. Or if it was just two storm fronts colliding and had a powerful squall line that was reported over Lake Michigan Sunday morning.
If you do revisit the storm and do a model please resurrect this thread with the info. Diving on 7 of the 8 ships sunk in Lake Huron and having the privilege of finding one of the victims has made this storm ranked as my number 1, even though the 1871, 86, 1905 October storm may have topped the actual weather event in power.
Question for Brian, 1913 Storm
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Guest
Re: Question for Brian, 1913 Storm
Hi Jared,
I have not done a reanalysis of the November 1913 Storm.
But the storm was an extratropical cyclone and not a hurricane. The only reason why it's called a "White Hurricane" is because of the snow and winds reaching hurricane-force. In some meteorological papers I've read, the Blizzard of January 25-27, 1978 is referred to as a "White Hurricane" too.
The storm was actually two different storms. The first affected Lakes Superior and Michigan on November 7th and 8th as it moved southeast from Minnesota to near Washington, DC. The second storm moved from Kansas dropping southeast along the Gulf Coast before moving up the Atlantic coast and merging with the system from Minnesota on November 9th-11th and was the most intense of the two, and it's the one that's referred to as a "White Hurricane". It's not unheard of for two storms to phase with one another and there is historical precedence for two storms that were very similar in trackline to the November 1913 storm. (First example is the Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 and the other is the Midwest Blizzard of January 25-27, 1978.)
The best write-up on the November 1913 storm from a meteorological perspective was done by an acquaintance of mine, Dr. Greg Mann along with another meteorologist from NWS Detroit. A few years ago they did a numerical weather prediction model simulation of the two storms. The pdf document at the link presents their results.
https://www.weather.gov/media/greatlake ... ective.pdf
- Brian
I have not done a reanalysis of the November 1913 Storm.
But the storm was an extratropical cyclone and not a hurricane. The only reason why it's called a "White Hurricane" is because of the snow and winds reaching hurricane-force. In some meteorological papers I've read, the Blizzard of January 25-27, 1978 is referred to as a "White Hurricane" too.
The storm was actually two different storms. The first affected Lakes Superior and Michigan on November 7th and 8th as it moved southeast from Minnesota to near Washington, DC. The second storm moved from Kansas dropping southeast along the Gulf Coast before moving up the Atlantic coast and merging with the system from Minnesota on November 9th-11th and was the most intense of the two, and it's the one that's referred to as a "White Hurricane". It's not unheard of for two storms to phase with one another and there is historical precedence for two storms that were very similar in trackline to the November 1913 storm. (First example is the Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 and the other is the Midwest Blizzard of January 25-27, 1978.)
The best write-up on the November 1913 storm from a meteorological perspective was done by an acquaintance of mine, Dr. Greg Mann along with another meteorologist from NWS Detroit. A few years ago they did a numerical weather prediction model simulation of the two storms. The pdf document at the link presents their results.
https://www.weather.gov/media/greatlake ... ective.pdf
- Brian
Question for Brian, 1913 Storm
Does your meteorological models show the 1913 storm as as a extratropical cyclone? I'm reading an account by the captain of the WH White that said he ran into a calm spot in the storm that was blowing west northwest, and then as the "squall line" passed his vessel it blew hard from the northeast. I'm wondering if this calm spot was an eye of a hurricane like system or if it was a much stronger front that was forming over Lake Huron. The account states that it was Sunday "evening" which coincides with the absolute worst of the storm.
It's hard separating legend from facts. If so it truly was a "white hurricane", otherwise it was just a series of really bad cold fronts.
It's hard separating legend from facts. If so it truly was a "white hurricane", otherwise it was just a series of really bad cold fronts.