The Witch of November

The Witch of November is a late-fall storm only known to the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes are freshwater seas that are so large that they can produce their own weather systems. The water temperature of the Great Lakes is still warm in late fall. When cold arctic air from Canada collides with warmer air over the lakes and those brought from the south, severe storms develop bringing winds from 50 to 100 miles per hour. Wave heights can reach 20 to 35 feet.

The most infamous Witch of November came 35 years ago this month when 60 mph winds, 100 mph gusts and waves of 35 feet sunk the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975. At 729 feet and 13,632 gross tons she was the largest ship on the Great Lakes, for thirteen years, until 1971. The ship carried 29 crew members.

The Fitzgerald's normal course during her productive life took her between Silver Bay, Minnesota, where she loaded taconite, to steel mills on the lower lakes in the Detroit and Toledo area. She was usually empty on her return trip to Silver Bay. On November 9, 1975 Fitzgerald was to transport a load of taconite (26,116 tons) from Superior, Wisconsin, to Zug Island, Detroit, Michigan.

The last communication from the doomed ship came at approximately 7:10 p.m., when the S.S. Anderson notified the Fitzgerald of an upbound ship and asked how she was doing. Captain McSorley of the "Fitz"reported, "We are holding our own." She sank minutes later. No distress signal was received, and ten minutes later the Anderson could neither raise the Fitzgerald by radio, nor detect her on radar.

The artwork is dedicated to the crew and families of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Credits:
stormy weather

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