Lake Michigan Wave Forecast Map (2024)

FAQs

How tall are the waves in Lake Michigan today? ›

In most cases, lakes are confined to smaller fetches which limit wave size, but the Great Lakes are large enough to produce frequent swells up to several metres. However, the highest ever recorded waves were 8.7 metres, outside of Marquette, Michigan, on Lake Superior.

Chicago Breaks in Lake Michigan is an exposed beach/Jetty break that has quite consistent surf. The surf tends to be optimum in the spring.

The Tallest Recorded Wave Height on Lake Michigan

Finding this information was more challenging than expected but, from what I can gather, the tallest recorded wave on Lake Michigan specifically was a whopping 23 feet as reported by mlive.com in September of 2011. At the shore, waves were reportedly about 17 feet high.

The highest wave ever recorded was a height of 29 feet (8.8 meters) on October 24, 2017 on Lake Superior just north of Marquette, Michigan. Most storms over the oceans of the world can produce average wave heights of 30 feet.

The two best spots within Lake Superior are Marquette and Grand Marais. Marquette gained much of its traction because it was the home break of one of the most well known Great Lake surfers, Surfer Dan. Many people also enjoy this spot because of its different breaks.

While the terminology tsunami does not technically apply in the Great Lakes (it is an ocean phenomenon), a large, rogue wave or set of waves crashing along our freshwater shores are not unheard of.

The displacement caused by the glacier that dropped into the inlet was so immense that it created a tsunami unlike any recorded before or since.” The size of the wave? 1,720 feet. That's taller than the Empire State Building.

The lakes have more coastline than the East and West coasts combined! While ocean waves are created by distant storm systems, waves on the Great Lakes are formed by localized winds.

Was there ever a tidal wave in Lake Michigan? ›

Back-to-back days of severe weather brought widespread flooding across the Midwest — and even a tsunami on Lake Michigan. It wasn't the typical kind of tsunami caused by seismic activity, but footage of the weather event showed how dangerous rising tides can be.

The lake's average depth is 46 fathoms 3 feet (279 ft; 85 m), while its greatest depth is 153 fathoms 5 feet (923 ft; 281 m). It contains a volume of 1,183 cubic miles (4,932 km³) of water. Green Bay in the northwest is its largest bay.

Pe'ahi | Hawaii

Also known as Jaws Surf Break, it's the biggest surf break in Maui, hosts some of the biggest waves in the US, and is one of the big wave spots waveriders covet in the entire Pacific Ocean.

Big wave surfing is a discipline within surfing in which experienced surfers paddle into, or are towed into, waves which are at least 20 feet (6.2 m) high, on surf boards known as "guns" or towboards.

Wind waves, with wavelengths up to ~100 meters, extend to ~50 m depth, have periods of seconds. Tsunami have wavelengths > 100 km, always extend to seafloor. In shallow water energy becomes concentrated between bottom and surface.

Answer and Explanation: The average elevation of the state of Michigan is 900 feet (270 meters) above sea level. This ranges from the lowest point, Lake Erie, at 571 feet (174 meters) above sea level to Mount Avon, the highest point, which is 1,979 feet (603 meters) above sea level.

The wave height is the vertical distance between wave trough and crest, while the wave length is the horizontal distance between consecutive wave crests.

The surf forecast is 1-2 ft and sideshore choppy right now for Muskegon County, MI.

Lake Michigan has the most options when it comes to choosing where to surf, but the two most notable are Check Seol Choix Point and Sheboygan.