Roads, schools closed as windstorm, 30-foot waves batter Upper Peninsula
MARQUETTE, MI - Roads and several schools across the Upper Peninsula are closed today as the area is being battered by a severe fall storm that is expected to whip up 30-foot waves along the coast of Lake Superior.
A buoy in the lake off the coast of Munising Tuesday measured waves at 28.8 feet high as of 9:30 a.m., according to the Great Lakes Observing System.
This storm will be one of the classic late October and November wind makers that brew over Lake Superior.
Marquette Police on Monday night closed a stretch of Lakeshore Boulevard as waves began to overtop the road. Early today, pictures from the department show that same stretch is now flooded and impassable.
A nearby park on the Lake Superior coast also has been closed because of dangerous conditions.
 |
| Lakeshore Blvd after the storm. |
"Due to weather conditions Lakeshore Blvd from Hawley St. to Wright St. will be closed. Presque Isle Island will also be closed. Please stay away from these areas until further notice," Marquette Police posted on Facebook today.
A Coast Guard helicopter from U.S. Air Station Traverse City was dispatched to the scene.
Power outages and school closings are also scattered among Upper Peninsula cities like Marquette, Munising and Tahquamenon.
Thousands of homes and businesses are without power, and the outages are expanding as the day goes on, WLUC reports.
MLive Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa described the storm as a classic windmaker that can brew up in the fall over Lake Superior.
Wind gusts up to 70 mph are expected in the U.P. today. The rough wave action means large swaths of Superior's shoreline could see erosion.
No comments:
Post a Comment