Do the Great Lakes have waves like the ocean?

The lakes have more coastline than the East and West coasts combined! While ocean waves are created by distant storm systems, waves on the Great Lakes are formed by localized winds. Thanks to ongoing improvements in wetsuit technology, surfers are now able to comfortably ride lake waves year-round.



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“The waves hit you every three to five seconds in the Great Lakes, where in the ocean it might be 10 to 12 seconds between waves,” said Guy Meadows, a Michigan senior research scientist.

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Because while our lakes are Great, they're comparatively much smaller than oceans. And the gravitational pull isn't strong.

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Meteotsunamis are frequently observed in the Great Lakes, averaging 106 events per year. Examples of destructive Great Lakes meteotsunamis include: In 1929, a retreating 20 foot wave pulled ten people to their deaths at in Lake Michigan at Grand Haven, MI.

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So you know how when you go for a dip in the ocean and you come out covered in salt crust and with the distinct stench of rotting seaweed? Yeah, that doesn't happen in the Great Lakes. The water may be colder, but it's wonderfully clean.

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Together with the Saint Lawrence Seaway, the Waterway allows both ocean-going vessels and the ore, grain and coal-bearing lake freighters to travel from the system's saltwater outlet to its far interior.

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Lake Superior is the world's largest freshwater lake by area (31,700 mi2 /82,100 km2). It is also the coldest and deepest of the Great Lakes, with a maximum depth of 406 meters (1,332 feet). By most measures, it is the healthiest of all the Great Lakes.

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While there have been past “sightings,” most have turned out to be pranks or misidentifications. The reality is that the largest of the Great Lakes (Lake Superior and Michigan) are extremely deep lakes that are too cold for sharks.

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The Great Lakes have been known to generate waves of more than 25 feet. They can sink lake freighters over 500 feet long when this happens. Lake Erie is booby-trapped with reefs, numerous sand bars and a wide range of waves and shallows. Some mariners have called it the world's most temperamental lake.

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Lake Superior is notorious for dangerous waves of a different kind: clusters of rogue waves. These abnormally large waves are colloquially known as “the three sisters” because they appear to travel as a trio, the second and third wave swamping a ship before it recovers from the first battering.

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According to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, the lakes have caused the sinking of around 6,000 ships and the death of 30,000 people. However, historian Mark Thompson, the author of Graveyard of the Lakes, has estimated that there are over 25,000 shipwrecks at the bottom of the Great Lakes.

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Parts of the Great Lakes typically freeze every winter.

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Geology of Lake Inferior Lake Inferior is an underground lake that is located beneath Lake Superior. It is believed to be formed by a process known as karstification, which is the dissolution of limestone and dolomite rock. This process creates sinkholes, caves, and underground rivers and lakes.

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At the deepest measured point, Lake Superior is 1,332 feet, around a quarter-mile straight down. Again, comparing it to the next deepest point in another Great Lake, Lake Michigan comes in second with a depth of 925 feet.

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