A tight pressure gradient over Lake Michigan due to strengthening low pressure moving through the Ohio Valley and central Great Lakes was responsible for gusty northeast winds and resultant high waves at Sheboygan Harbor. Wave heights reached as high as 14 feet at the southern Lake Michigan buoy.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS MKX wrote it up.
A tight pressure gradient over Lake Michigan due to strengthening low pressure moving through the Ohio Valley and central Great Lakes was responsible for gusty northeast winds and resultant high waves at Sheboygan Harbor. Wave heights reached as high as 14 feet at the southern Lake Michigan buoy. Winds gusted as high as 36 knots at the Sheboygan C-Man station in the early afternoon on August 10th. The two victims were swept into Lake Michigan by high waves crashing onto the Sheboygan harbor north break wall. The two were trying to recover fishing equipment which had fallen into the lake the day before. A third person was also washed into the lake by the high waves, but survived due to holding onto a nearby ladder. The first victim's body was located the next day, Saturday, August 11th. The second victim was found the following day, on Sunday, August 12th.
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 Milwaukee, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 10, 10:04 AM CST, 56 minutes earlier.
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 marine strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sustained winds of 32 knots gusting to 34-36 knots caused high waves on the Sheboygan harbor break wall.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marine Strong Wind, Sheboygan to Pt Washington Wi | 2012-08-10 | 37 | Male | In Water | Direct |
| Marine Strong Wind, Sheboygan to Pt Washington Wi | 2012-08-10 | 21 | Male | In Water | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Lake Michigan in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather history
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 390429.