I bathed in Superior and it was an ice plunge in August at the shoreline.

I bought my nephews a book on shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. I live near Lake Michigan, and people don't realize how dangerous these lakes are.

Our former neighbor almost died in Lake Erie — his buddy did. They were fishing when a storm came up, capsized their boat. One guy drowned, Dan was rescued. His wife said he awakens from nightmares terrified ever since.

Been out fishing on Lake Michigan, on a 30 foot vessel,  when a storm blew in, the Capitan had already reeled in all the downriggers, and lines, and started heading to port, when the 8 to 12 foot rollers started , as  10 year old, it was harrowing. Climbing the back side of waves that size, to drop 10 feet, with a crash, over, and over again gives you a tremendous amount of respect for the big lakes. Calm and beautiful one minute,  and scary as hell minutes later....

I moved to Duluth, MN for a job from Atlanta, Georgia. What I saw of the weather on Lake Superior on dry land was terrible enough. I tip my hat to all the iron-clad people who make a living on those waters. Some of the toughest, no nonsense people I’ve met in America are from MN/WI etc… I moved to Manhattan NYC soon after. Winters in NYC are a piece of cake compared to Duluth. People say New Yorkers are tough. They are but not on the same level as the people I met on the lake. Great Lake people are a totally different breed of toughness in my limited experience.

My ex-husband was a Merchant Marine and wheelsman, first on the Fitzgerald, then on the Arthur M. Anderson. Those taconite ore boats are gigantic and can normally withstand any storm.We lived in Two Harbors, Minnesota, 30 minutes north of Duluth. He had friends on the Fitzgerald and it took such a toll on the families on the north shore. Everyone knew everyone else in that town. He said the most dangerous times on Superior were when the gales would create waves that were coming from uneven directions like west and north or south and east. The ship would then be buffeted sideways and from stem to stern. It was the one situation that could cause an ore ship's hull to destabilize or break. Of course the hatches always had to be completely sealed and in good working order.  Occasionally even the most seaworthy ships could capsize if they were caught just right in these crazy crosswaves. The Fitz was only like 10-15 miles from Whitefish when it was lost. The Anderson was out in the same storm and radio-ed the Fitzgerald to check on their status. Captain McSorley said, "Well, we're going along like an old shoe". Ten mins later they were lost.

I'm 67 years old. When I was a kid my father worked as a cook on ships, for 15 years, going all over the world. He'd be home for a week or two every 3 or 4 months. He said, many times the storms on the great lakes were worst than the storms on the oceans. The oceans are salt water and the ships ride higher in the water.
He told me some of the storms were so terrifying that if he lives through that storm he'll quit but, after a few weeks he said, I'm over it and going back out.

Superior is known for the 3 sisters,the first 2 set you up, the 3rd one takes you out

Oceans are scary when there's huge storms the great lakes are terrifying with a little bit of wind the amount of waves

As far as drowning lake Michigan holds the record

Most storms on Lake Superior move in a west-to-east direction. Winds travel undisturbed over hundreds of miles of open water, which allows waves to build in size. By the time they get to the eastern end of the lake they can be truly monstrous. There is a reason the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is located at Whitefish Point.

Problem with Lake Erie it’s shallow, it can go from flat to deadly in less than an hour .

My wife and I drove up to Whitefish Point for the one and only time we ever visited the place. It was in mid summer of 1998 and I recall looking north-northwest and thinking about the SS Edmund Fitzgerald's crew 17 miles away and 535 feet below the surface. We were there on a calm warm sunny day and it was hard to imagine waves as high as 25 feet 23 years earlier. I wonder if there’s ever been a storm like that since November 10, 1975.  

It seems like the last rough winter we experienced was in the 1990s. I’m 80 and have lived in St Paul since my family moved here from MD in 1956. From the 1950s to the 1990s we usually had much more snow and extreme cold. i recall walking to school one morning when it was -34 F and I really appreciated the heavy snowstorms that caused my school to close. Although I enjoyed cold snowy winters during my younger days, I’m thankful about the mild winters in recent years. But when we moved to MN I was 12 and greatly looking forward to all the snow, unlike MD where the small amount of snow we had melted quickly. We would have to get our sleds and rush outside before the snow vanished.

The storms on Lake Erie can sneak up on you without warning. I know people who said they were lucky to have beaten a storm back to shore.

Born and raised in grand haven, michigan.....coast guard city usa!

Door Penninsula in Wisconsin sticks out like a finger on the upper west side of Lake Michigan. There are at least 240 shipwrecks around those shores alone. I have been on the other side of the Door penninsula on Green Bay. On a perfectly sunny, beautiful day, I saw storm clouds come up in the blink of an eye and the boats out on the Lake rushed in, barely reaching safety before the storm hit.

Born and raised in Chicago… Every time they warn  not to go by the lake because of strong winds and waves what do they do they go by the lake and fall in and have to be rescued! It happens all the time!  people don’t realize the power of Lake Michigan

As someone who grew up in Erie PA, I appreciate that you showed the Erie Quadrangle!

I am 73 years old now. I am from Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada and I am the real deal. I spent my entire life sailing for Canada Steamship lines and Algoma. 43 years in the worst storms you could ever imagine. You should be interviewing me. I could tell you some real stories.

my family were lighthouse keepers on superior they told some interesting stories about the old days