Fierce thunderstorms in Michigan this week produced a rare weather phenomenon, a meteotsunami, reaching as high as 7 feet, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A normal tsunami is caused by seismic activity, like a volcanic eruption or earthquake. A meteotsunami comes from disturbances to air pressure amid fast storm fronts, says the NOAA.
On Tuesday, an NOAA buoy on Lake Michigan near Muskegon recorded meteotsunami waves that peaked at 6:24 a.m. “A line of severe thunderstorms moved through southwest lower Michigan. Along that system, there was rapidly changing air pressure that caused the water levels along the lakeshore to fluctuate rapidly,” National Weather Service Grand Rapids meteorologist Joe Ceru told Bridge Michigan news service.
The waves led the NWS Grand Rapids office to issue a marine warning for the lake just minutes before the waves peaked, stretching from South Haven to Holland, Michigan, and extending 5 nautical miles from the lake’s shore to the middle of Lake Michigan. Video at Holland State Park sent by the city to the Weather Channel shows the waves getting intense as the storm passes over.
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