Lake Superior Posts

Weird clouds on July 11

Images taken over the span of a few minutes as dark rollers split off the main cloud bank like sideways funnel clouds, conflicting air masses in turbulence. (This kind of thing scared the heck out of me when I first moved here.)

On Board a Great Lakes Fireboat

Local YouTuber Vibe with Mike took a ride on the Duluth Fire Department’s fireboat.

Postcard from the Moonlight Over Lake Superior

This postcard, unmailed and undated, shows Downtown Duluth at night, circa perhaps the 1930s.

Postcard from Lake Superior in Action at Grand Marais

Arctic Bound: Sailboat Nord Hus arrives in Grand Marais

The 36-foot sailboat Nord Hus cast off from the Knife River Marina near Two Harbors on March 31 with a crew of four and temperatures hovering around 11 degrees. The first stop on the journey was Grand Marais. Explorers Lonnie Dupre and Pascale Marceau and crew plan to sail the Nord Hus from Grand Marais through the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence Seaway and follow the Canadian North Shore to Newfoundland, eventually reaching the arctic channel between Elsemere Island and Greenland. The crew will be conducting a variety of scientific observations in collaboration with global partners.

Postcard from Along the Rocky Shores of Isle Royale

This undated postcard, published by E. C. Kropp Company, shows a rocky shore at Isle Royale, about 150 miles northeast of Duluth. The fourth-largest lake island in the world was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a National Park on April 3, 1940 — 85 years ago today.

Coast Guard vs. Illegal Fishing Shelter

The Duluth-based YouTube channel Vibe with Mike has the story. Spoiler alert: Coast Guard wins.

PDD Geoguessr #29: Lake Superior Lighthouses

The Duluth North Pier Lighthouse (Photo by Matthew James)

On Nov. 10, 1975 — 49 years ago next week — the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a Lake Superior Storm, killing all 29 crew members on board. As noted in Gordon Lightfoot’s ballad, “The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald,” the ship sank during a November gale, a Great Lakes weather event in which Artic air from the north collides with Gulf air from the south, creating hurricane-level winds. With the Lake Superior Marine Museum’s Gales of November event approaching, this post takes a look at the lighthouses that historically guided Great Lakes ships to safety during these storms. It concludes with a Geoguessr that includes Lake Superior lighthouses in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario.

Envisioning Threats to Great Lakes Shorelines

Duluth features prominently in this segment from the latest episode of Great Lakes Now, a monthly program focused on developments affecting the lakes. The show is produced by Detroit PBS in partnership with a network of PBS affiliates around the region.

The Wreck of the Adella Shores

On April 29, 1909, the Adella Shores was bound for Duluth with a cargo of 9,200 barrels of salt. The ship never arrived. Disappearing in a gale off Whitefish Point, Michigan, the location of the 195-foot wreck remained one of the lake’s unsolved mysteries. But the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum has found it.

A Video Journal of Lake Superior

This video ran on a loop at the Duluth Art Institute’s “Water Works” show June 20 to Aug. 25, 2013. It hadn’t made it to the internet yet.

Lake Superior’s Warming Waters

Lots of Duluth up in here.

Screaming at Lake Superior

Last year, Duluthians gathered behind Leif Erickson Park to scream at Lake Superior. The April Fools’ Day screaming session was initiated by Ryan Glenn. “I originally posted the event […] to be sort of a joke, so in case it flopped it was on April 1,” they said.

Postcard from the Rocky Shores of Lake Superior

This undated postcard, circa 1970, was published by Gallagher’s Studio of Photography. The caption on the back read: “Rocky Shores Along the Circle Route of Lake Superior.”

Beating the Heat