Lake Superior, 2011

Marine High Wind in Lake Superior, May 11, 2011

May 11, 2011 · NWS MQT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A wake low formed by a thunderstorm complex moving across Upper Michigan caused strong wind gusts at Big Bay on the morning of the 11th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS MQT wrote it up.

A wake low formed by a thunderstorm complex moving across Upper Michigan caused strong wind gusts at Big Bay on the morning of the 11th.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Marquette, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 11, 5:29 AM EST, 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 11, 5:29 AM EST, 1 minute before
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Hazardous weather outlook, May 11, 3:31 AM EST, 1 hour 59 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 11, 12:26 AM EST, 5 hours 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
126 AM EDT WED MAY 11 2011

MIZ001-003-110615-
KEWEENAW-NORTHERN HOUGHTON-
126 AM EDT WED MAY 11 2011

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR HOUGHTON AND KEWEENAW COUNTIES UNTIL
215 AM EDT...

AT 122 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES NORTH OF HANCOCK...OR 9 MILES WEST OF
CALUMET.  THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

PENNY SIZE HAIL...WINDS UP TO 40 MPH...AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.

* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  MCLAIN STATE PARK...
  CALUMET...
  COPPER CITY...
  MOHAWK...
  RICE LAKE...
  PHOENIX...

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL
TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS
CONCERNING THIS WEATHER SITUATION.

SRF
Local storm report, May 11, 1:23 AM EST, 4 hours 7 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
223 AM EDT WED MAY 11 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0205 AM     HAIL             FREDA                   47.13N 88.82W
05/11/2011  M0.50 INCH       HOUGHTON           MI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            MAINLY PEA SIZED HAIL WITH A FEW DIME SIZED HAIL.

&&

SRF
Local storm report, May 11, 1:44 AM EST, 3 hours 46 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
244 AM EDT WED MAY 11 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0241 AM     HAIL             1 N KEWEENAW BAY        46.87N 88.48W
05/11/2011  E0.50 INCH       BARAGA             MI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            1/4 TO 1/2 INCH HAIL FALLING AT THAT TIME.

&&

SRF
Local storm report, May 11, 3:42 AM EST, 1 hour 48 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 marine high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Marine High Wind, Huron Islands to Marquette Mi

When
May 11, 5:30 AM EST to 5:35 AM EST
Where
Huron Islands to Marquette Mi forecast zone, Big Bay Point Light
Measured
64 kt (74 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
46.840, -87.680

Wind measured by the GLOS site at Big Bay.

What these are

Marine High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 48 knots or more over water.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Lake Superior in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather history

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 302274.