Great Lakes Tsunami Warning System In The Works

ANN ARBOR, MI — Scientists, meteorologists and other experts are meeting in Ann Arbor this week to discuss the development of an early warning system for deadly Great Lakes tsunamis, a common but largely unrecognized phenomenon that can sweep away swimmers, capsize boats and devastate coastlines.

About 106 Great Lakes tsunamis occur a year, according to an announcement of the summit from the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research at the University of Michigan. Tsunamis in oceans are caused by earthquakes, but in lakes, they’re the result of rapid changes in barometric pressure associated with fast-moving weather systems. For that reason, they’re called “meteotsunamis.”

Most meteotsunamis are so small that they escape notice, but they can have devastating coastline effects, including damaging waves, flooding and strong currents that can cause damage, injury and death.

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For example, seven people who drowned in 2003 at Sawyer, Michigan, were originally believed to have succumbed under strong rip currents, but water level records showed a moderate meteotsunami occurred around the time they drowned, the Great Lakes research cooperative said.

Other damaging and deadly meteotsunami events have included:

• In 1929, a retreating 20-foot wave pulled 10 people to their deaths in Lake Michigan near Grand Haven.
• In 1954, a 10-foot wave hit Chicago and swept many fisherman off a pier, killing seven.
• In 1998, a strong meteotsunami on Lake Michigan caused a tug boat at the White Lake Municipal Harbor at Whitehall.

Also, researchers say, sudden and unexpected water level drawdown due to meteotsunamis could cause dry cooling water intakes at nuclear power plants, leading to insufficient water supply and potentially endangering human life.

From Wednesday through Friday, 25 experts from around the world will lay the groundwork for developing a real-time meteotsunami warning system for the Great Lakes. Participants are from the National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Center for Tsunami Research, Great Lakes Observing System, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, and several U.S. and international universities.

Photo by Courtney Celley/USFWS via Flickr Commons