The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: A Meteorological Breakdown

In-depth discussion of one of the greatest maritime tragedies in history: the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975, as made popular by the Gordon Lightfoot song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". We'll take a deep dive into the meteorology behind the Edmund Fitzgerald's final journey, focusing on how the gales of November put that good ship and crew in such peril on that fateful night. Thumbnail image via Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. --------------------------------------------------------- Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 1:00 Background on the SS Edmund Fitzgerald 1:25 Timeline of the accident 6:02 Meteorological breakdown begins 7:10 Causes of surface low intensification 11:35 Pressure gradient 12:34 Precipitation causes 15:13 Wind shift, strengthening pressure gradient on backside of low 16:02 Role of vertical mixing in enhancing winds 16:51 Role of coastal geography in enhancing winds 18:17 Wind simulation 19:45 Wave simulation 20:50 Role of waves in the accident 23:20 Background environment at time of accident 23:37 How unusual was this event? 24:51 Wrap-up --------------------------------------------------------- Resources: NWS Marquette event page: https://www.weather.gov/mqt/fitz_rese... "Reexamination of the 9–10 November 1975 'Edmund Fitzgerald' Storm Using Today's Technology" - Hultquist et al. (2006): https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/jou... National Transportation Safety Board accident report on the Edmund Fitzgerald: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/A... United States Coast Guard accident report: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i... Great Wikipedia article on the SS Edmund Fitzgerald: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmu... Map of Edmund Fitzgerald and Arthur M. Anderson tracks on November 9-10, 1975: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?... Twin Cities Pioneer Press article on research being done on Three Sisters phenomena within Lake Superior: https://www.twincities.com/2015/11/08... Tornado Archive: https://tornadoarchive.com/home/