Great Lakes: Freezes, Lake Effect, and Cooling

Tony Crocker said:
I googled awhile, as I know Aussies have high standards when it comes to surfing. But check this out starting at the 13 minute mark.

Realize that getting that size and quality of surf on Lake Superior happens about as often as a 6-foot dump of snow in the SoCal mountains.
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That is huge for Stony Point, but a day like this isn’t too uncommon in the winter:

Alex Gray gets barreled at 2:03 and 3:12.
 
Tony Crocker said:
I googled awhile, as I know Aussies have high standards when it comes to surfing. But check this out starting at the 13 minute mark.

Realize that getting that size and quality of surf on Lake Superior happens about as often as a 6-foot dump of snow in the SoCal mountains. The earlier part of that video shows surfing in Pennsylvania (Lake Erie) and Indiana (Lake Michigan). Also note that the Lake Superior surf season is winter, with air temps in the -10 to -15C range.
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That's incredible. I thought proper waves were confined to oceans with long wind fetch. Just proves how big those lakes are.

Edit. I just looked up Stony Point. I assume these conditions happen with sustained fresh north easterly winds?
 
Sbooker said:
That's incredible. I thought proper waves were confined to oceans with long wind fetch. Just proves how big those lakes are.

Edit. I just looked up Stony Point. I assume these conditions happen with sustained fresh north easterly winds?
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I'm not a surfer, but my understanding is the best conditions result from sustained north-north-east winds at Stoney Point (just realized I misspelled it in my post above).
 
That "Surfing Lake Superior" clip is nuts with what look like perfect pipelines.

It's said that the most difficult sporting feat is to hit a MLB-level baseball (the hand/eye coordination necessary to connect on a 100 mph fastball, to say nothing of curveballs, knuckleballs, sliders, etc.); however, surfing has to be up there. I can't imagine being able to execute some of those moves.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
execute some of those moves
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Those moves are sort of like an elite mogul skier. Big wave surfing seems a close analogy to the extreme skiers ripping 50 degree lines in Alaska.

There are tons of recreational surfers in SoCal and Australia who are analogous to the skiers who post here.

Is the learning curve more difficult? Yes. One of my high school classmates said you need about 100 sessions to become competent. Adam said it took him about 50 when he went to college in San Diego. The curve was faster for him because he was already an expert skier.

Garry Klassen and Larry Schick (grew up in Laguna Beach) are the people I know best with very high skill levels at both skiing and surfing. Those people will tell you that surfing and powder skiing are similarly addictive.

Sbooker may have some insights here too.
 
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Tony Crocker said:
Those moves are sort of like an elite mogul skier. Big wave surfing seems a close analogy to the extreme skiers ripping 50 degree lines in Alaska.

There are tons of recreational surfers in SoCal and Australia who are analogous to the skiers who post here.

Is the learning curve more difficult? Yes. One of my high school classmates said you need about 100 sessions to become competent. Adam said it took him about 50 when he went to college in San Diego. The curve was faster for him because he was already an expert skier.

Garry Klassen and Larry Schick (grew up in Laguna Beach) are the people I know best with very high skill levels at both skiing and surfing. Those people will tell you that surfing and powder skiing are similarly addictive.

Sbooker may have some insights here too.
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I don't surf , but i did windsurf at competent level...i could do a laydown jibe... when you are hooked in and back in the straps..warm flat water , it might be the best feeling ever!!! i imagine surfing is similar. i got goosey writing this
 
jamesdeluxe said:
That "Surfing Lake Superior" clip is nuts with what look like perfect pipelines.

It's said that the most difficult sporting feat is to hit a MLB-level baseball (the hand/eye coordination necessary to connect on a 100 mph fastball, to say nothing of curveballs, knuckleballs, sliders, etc.); however, surfing has to be up there. I can't imagine being able to execute some of those moves.
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I often think about the gulf between average people’s ability to play a sport and the elite sportspeople. I agree surfing might be difficult but high jump is the one that blows my mind. (I am short though so that might play on my thinking). :)

Getting in that cold water is very impressive in itself.
 
Tony Crocker said:
Sbooker may have some insights here too.
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I don’t surf now and never reached a really competent level back in the day because I didn’t do it enough. Then work took over my life between the age of about 20 and 38 so I did very little leisure stuff aside from irregular offshore fishing. When I started taking time off we somehow got into snow skiing. It wasn’t a conscious thing but it was a pastime that was more family friendly than most sports. We could all do it together…..
Not becoming a regular surfer is a bit of a regret of mine.
 
Has anyone (here) been to Mt. Bohemia in winter?

This graph is fantastic: it's either all or nothing with freezing over!


flyover said:
Superior froze to 100% in 96 and has gone well over 90% five times in the last 25 years. That is less frequently than it used to. I remember the lake effect shutting down in 2014 and 2019. Presumably, it also shut down in other years where more than 90% of the lake froze.

From NOAA:

View attachment 43213
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