Tsunamis in the Great Lakes? Yes, Meet Michigan’s Meteotsunamis

When you think of the Great Lakes, chances are you're not conjuring up images of tsunamis, but meteotsunamis happen more often than you think. Meteostunamis differ from traditional tsunamis in that earthquakes do not cause them. Instead, they are caused by sudden changes in barometric pressure that happen often over Michigan's freshwater lakes.

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Having never heard of them, I assumed a meteotsunami event in Michigan had to be rare. However, according to the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR), we average 106 annually. Most of the waves caused by meteotsunamis go unnoticed, but some bring devastation to the shores of the Mitten State.

Meteotsunami Research: Preventing Disasters

Since 2018, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been working in their Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) on an early detection system to warn coastal residents of an upcoming event.

NOAA's research into meteotsunamis was prompted by an event that occurred near Ludington, Michigan, on April 13, 2018. A single wave pummeled homes, boat docks, and beaches. In 2021, an experimental buoy was placed in Lake Michigan that was initially meant to detect tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean but has been retrofitted to detect meteotsunamis.

The Great Lakes History of Meteotsunamis

Think of meteotsunamis as the ninjas of the Great Lakes. Most of the time, they go unseen, but if you see one, you know things are about to get interesting. In addition to the 2018 incident in Ludington, here's a look at what the CIGLR considers to be the most significant meteotsunamis in Great Lakes history:

• Grand Haven 1929
  • Ten people are pulled into Lake Michigan by a retreating 20-foot wave. None would survive
• Chicago 1954
  • Seven people were killed when fishermen were swept off a pier by a 10-foot wave
• White Lake 1998
  • A tugboat was capsized by a meteotsunami wave while in the harbor
• Sawyer 2003
  • In what was originally thought to be a riptide, it was later determined that the seven people drowned as the result of a meteotsunami

Below, in the video provided by CBS, you can see an example of a meteotsunami, which occurred on June 25, 2024, on a beach in Holland, Michigan.

According to Michigan State University (MSU), Lake Michigan is the epicenter of meteotsunamis, averaging 51 a year, followed by Lake Erie with 27, Huron with 17, Superior with 6, and 5 for Lake Ontario.