Lake Superior

Gale warnings were posted this week for the North Shore of Lake Superior.

LakeSuperior

Grand Marais Harbor 001

The forecast was correct. North winds were clocked in Grand Marais at over 60 mph. If the wind would have been out of the northeast we would have had huge waves colliding with the shore. But this was the first time I have seen north winds strong enough to produce waves in the harbor that actually were big enough to go over the break wall.

GrandMariasHarbor001

Grand Marais Harbor 002

The wind was even blowing off the tops of the whitecaps creating a mist in the harbor.

GrandMariasHarbor002

Grand Marais Harbor 003

I couldn’t even stand up in the parking lot but it didn’t seem to bother the gulls.

GrandMariasHarbor003

Bufflehead

Several species of ducks were in the harbor waiting for the inland lakes to open.

Bufflehead002

Common Goldeneyes

They were all staying close to the shore to get out of the main part of the wind.

CommonGoldeneyes

Red-Breasted Merganser

It was definitely a memorable day on the North Shore.

RedBreastedMerganser