Of seiches and gales

The Great Lakes don't have tsunamis or hurricanes, but they do have "seiches" and "gales of November" (for stories on the latter see Pages 4 and 14). Seiche (pronounced "saysh") is produced by winds causing downward pressure that makes the water rock back and forth as water in a bathtub does. This can raise and lower the water levels on opposite ends of the phenomenon and also cause huge waves.

According to David Schwab, a research oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes office in Ann Arbor, "A seiche is a smaller version of a tsunami, with a different cause. A seiche is caused by wind; tsunamis are caused by earthquakes."

Jeff Alexander, a reporter for the Muskegon Chronicle, sites a seiche example: "That's precisely what happened in 1929, when 45,000 people gathered at Grand Haven State Park on Independence Day. An early morning storm spawned a seiche that kicked up large waves; one swept a 16-year-old Grand Rapids girl off the breakwater and into Lake Michigan, where she drowned. A second seiche swept across the lake about five hours later, unleashing a wall of water that lashed the Grand Haven beach with 20-foot waves and a powerful undertow that pulled nine more people to their deaths."

Commissioners
Bill Kron, Duluth, president
Steve Raukar, Hibbing, vice president
Janet E. Nelson, Duluth, secretary
Thomas Cashman, Mankato, assistant treasurer
Thomas A. Clure, Duluth
Cal Larson, Fergus Falls
Ray Klosowski, Duluth

Administration
Executive director: Adolph N. Ojard
Port promotion manager: Lisa Marciniak
Executive assistant: Becky McMillan
Secretary: Anne Mann

Property Development
Business development director:
Andy McDonough
Facilities manager: Jim Sharrow
Foreign trade zone manager: Ray Skelton

Legal Counsel
Robert C. Maki, Maki & Overom, Duluth

Finance
Chief financial officer: John A. Kubow
Accounting technician: Adrienne M. Sobczak
Accounting technician: Shellie Golden

Maritime Commerce
Trade development director: Ronald L. Johnson
Environmental and government
affairs director: Ray Skelton

Public Marine Terminal
Operator: Lake Superior Warehousing Co., Inc.
1200 Port Terminal Drive
P.O. Box 16390
Duluth, MN USA 55816-0390
Phone: (218) 727-6646
FAX: (218) 727-6649
E-mail LSW2000@aol.com
Website: www.lswci.com
President: Gary Nicholson
Warehouse coordinator: Denise M. McDougall
Foreman: Tim Rogers
Assistant foreman: Zoran Pedisic
Office assistant: Ruth A. Roberts
Office clerk: Brian Granholm

On the front: American Steamship Company's Indiana Harbor made her way out of the Duluth-Superior harbor on a calm fall afternoon.

Photo by Patrick Lapinski

On the back: The German cruise vessel Columbus stopped in Duluth three times this fall, berthing at the Duluth Convention and Visitors Center's dock, immediately adjacent to the shops and numerous visitor attractions available in Duluth's Canal Park.

Photo by Ron Johnson

This quarterly magazine is prepared by Fortner WordWorks of Duluth and printed by Service Printers of Duluth.