OT: Lake Superior.

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

AMAZING LAKE SUPERIOR FACTS
1. Lake Superior contains ten percent of all the fresh water on the planet Earth.
2. It covers 82,000 square kilometers or 31,700 square miles.
3. The average depth is 147 meters or 483 feet.
4. There have been about 350 shipwrecks recorded in Lake Superior.
5. Lake Superior is, by surface area, the largest lake in the world.
6. A Jesuit priest in 1668 named it
Lac Tracy, but that name was never officially adopted.
7. It contains as much water as all the other Great Lakes combined, plus three extra Lake Eries.
8. The Ojibwe name for Lake Superior is Gitchi-Gami which translates to “Great sea”.
9. The shoreline of Lake Superior is 2,726 miles (4,385 km) long.
10. There is a small outflow from the lake at St. Marys River (Sault Ste Marie) into Lake Huron but it takes almost two centuries for the water to be completely replaced.
11. There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover all of North and South America with water a foot deep.
12. It takes 551 billion gallons of water to raise the water level one inch.
13. The deepest point in the lake is 405 meters or 1,333 feet.
14. There are 78 different species of fish that call the big lake home.
15. The largest waves ever recorded on Lake Superior were 28.8 feet (8.8 meters) high and were recorded in October of 2017.
16. If you stretched the shoreline of Lake Superior out to a straight line, it would be long enough to reach from Duluth to the Bahamas.
17. Over 300 streams and rivers empty into Lake Superior with the largest source being the Nipigon River.
18. The average underwater visibility of Lake Superior is about 8 meters or 27 feet, making it the cleanest and clearest of the Great Lakes. Underwater visibility in some spots reaches 30 meters.
19. In the summer, the sun sets more than 35 minutes later on the western shore of Lake Superior than at its southeastern edge.
21. It is extremely rare for Lake Superior to 100% freeze over. The last time it came close was in 2014 when it had 91% ice coverage.
22. Lake Superior is the coldest of the Great Lakes with an average temperature of between 36 and 39 degrees Fahrenheit

 

[pittiswhereiamfrom2]

 

[hoclaw]

Here's an interesting fact: the 5 Grat Lakes touch 8 of the United States.
All 5 Great Lakes however, are contained within 1 Canadian province, Ontario.
Such is the geographical vastness of Canada

 

[ratking17]

Always thought superior had self confidence issues. Little brother to Michigan.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Yinz think it's better than the Mon? Yinz are crazy if so.

 

[OH Pete]

I'd say they are sort of interesting facts. Not all 22 qualify as amazing, IMO.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

Yinz think it's better than the Mon? Yinz are crazy if so.

Nothin like the winds that blow in off the Pittsburgh lakes

 

[upj87]

Here's an interesting fact: the 5 Grat Lakes touch 8 of the United States.
All 5 Great Lakes however, are contained within 1 Canadian province, Ontario.
Such is the geographical vastness of Canada

uh, such is the geographical vastness of Ontario (it dwarfs Texas in area)...Only ten provinces (+ 3 territories) in Canada so sure they take up a helluva lot of room...

not sure what contained within 1 Canadian province means since Ontario only touches 4 of the lakes..

 

[HailtoPitt]

Here's an interesting fact: the 5 Grat Lakes touch 8 of the United States.
All 5 Great Lakes however, are contained within 1 Canadian province, Ontario.
Such is the geographical vastness of Canada

I mean, that comparing states (there are 50) to Canadian provinces (which there are 5?).

 

[_Goldenboy_]

That lake thinks that it’s just sooooooo much better than other bodies of water.

 

[Dan1911]

Lake Baikal says "Hold my beer."

 

[upj87]

Lake Baikal says "Hold my beer."

Lake Baikal sucks !!

Ruskie surface area wannabe...don't need 5,000 feet of depth of water to waterski, you need room and Gordon Lightfoot sure as hell wasn't going to name it in a song..

 

[Tanat]

I mean, that comparing states (there are 50) to Canadian provinces (which there are 5?).

There 10 Canadian provinces plus 3 territories

 

[HopeandChangeforAntoons]

I don’t know if it is a fact, but it is also said Superior never gives up her dead when the gales of November come early.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I mean, that comparing states (there are 50) to Canadian provinces (which there are 5?).

10 but point taken

 

[JD1976]

The only head scratcher in Gordon Lightfoot’s classic is his mention of Cleveland when the song is very clearly about Lake Superior.

 

[USN_Panther]

The only head scratcher in Gordon Lightfoot’s classic is his mention of Cleveland when the song is very clearly about Lake Superior.

The Great Lakes are connected by locks. They are navigable by commercial vessels.

 

[Eastern Eight]

Nothin like the winds that blow in off the Pittsburgh lakes

Thanks Bubby

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

Lake Erie beach at Cedar Point/Breakers hotel is beautiful. Hard to believe it is a lake, like being at the shore. A lot nicer than Presque Isle, although I like that also.

 

[upj87]

The only head scratcher in Gordon Lightfoot’s classic is his mention of Cleveland when the song is very clearly about Lake Superior.

uh, no the song is very clearly about a ship (on its way to Cleveland) that sank in Lake Superior....the head scratcher is that it was headed for Zug Island in Detroit. I know this as it was my brother's plant when he worked for National Steel there in the mid 70's....I'm guessing Cleveland was its final destination after a couple stops before heading back to Minnesota or Wisconsin for another load of iron ore...

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship's bell rang

 

[The Ole Six-Fiver]

I don’t know if it is a fact, but it is also said Superior never gives up her dead when the gales of November come early.

I read something once about “what the artist meant” (because that song was one if my dad’s very favorites)…the line alludes to something about the cold temp of the water in the lake; dead bodies from wrecks there don’t float up to the surface (aka, give up her dead) as they do in warmer waters (where they can be more easily found and recovered).

 

[wbrpanther]

The only head scratcher in Gordon Lightfoot’s classic is his mention of Cleveland when the song is very clearly about Lake Superior.

The song is about the Edmund Fitzgerald which was in fact headed for Cleveland.

 

[Harlo4PITT]

Read and listened to all these post. And enjoyed it.
Why? I suppose as I grow older these types of topics interest me more now, not so much when I wore a younger mans clothes.
Thanks for the post @recruitsreadtheseboards.

 

[JD1976]

The song is about the Edmund Fitzgerald which was in fact headed for Cleveland.

Ah gotcha. Well I feel like a dummy 😂

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

AMAZING LAKE SUPERIOR FACTS
1. Lake Superior contains ten percent of all the fresh water on the planet Earth.
2. It covers 82,000 square kilometers or 31,700 square miles.
3. The average depth is 147 meters or 483 feet.
4. There have been about 350 shipwrecks recorded in Lake Superior.
5. Lake Superior is, by surface area, the largest lake in the world.
6. A Jesuit priest in 1668 named it
Lac Tracy, but that name was never officially adopted.
7. It contains as much water as all the other Great Lakes combined, plus three extra Lake Eries.
8. The Ojibwe name for Lake Superior is Gitchi-Gami which translates to “Great sea”.
9. The shoreline of Lake Superior is 2,726 miles (4,385 km) long.
10. There is a small outflow from the lake at St. Marys River (Sault Ste Marie) into Lake Huron but it takes almost two centuries for the water to be completely replaced.
11. There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover all of North and South America with water a foot deep.
12. It takes 551 billion gallons of water to raise the water level one inch.
13. The deepest point in the lake is 405 meters or 1,333 feet.
14. There are 78 different species of fish that call the big lake home.
15. The largest waves ever recorded on Lake Superior were 28.8 feet (8.8 meters) high and were recorded in October of 2017.
16. If you stretched the shoreline of Lake Superior out to a straight line, it would be long enough to reach from Duluth to the Bahamas.
17. Over 300 streams and rivers empty into Lake Superior with the largest source being the Nipigon River.
18. The average underwater visibility of Lake Superior is about 8 meters or 27 feet, making it the cleanest and clearest of the Great Lakes. Underwater visibility in some spots reaches 30 meters.
19. In the summer, the sun sets more than 35 minutes later on the western shore of Lake Superior than at its southeastern edge.
21. It is extremely rare for Lake Superior to 100% freeze over. The last time it came close was in 2014 when it had 91% ice coverage.
22. Lake Superior is the coldest of the Great Lakes with an average temperature of between 36 and 39 degrees Fahrenheit

10% of surface fresh water, not all freshwater. It struck me as odd when thinking of aquifers, but this 10% number does not include those.

To me, #11 on your list is the most amazing.

 

[Conemaugh]

Here's an interesting fact: the 5 Grat Lakes touch 8 of the United States.
All 5 Great Lakes however, are contained within 1 Canadian province, Ontario.
Such is the geographical vastness of Canada

More interesting than all of that.... the Ohio river is much larger than the Mississippi river in terms of cubic feet per second of water flow where the two rivers meet in Cairo Illinois (almost 50% greater volume of water). The headwaters of the largest river in the USA is in Western PA..... not Minnesota (the headwaters of the Mississippi). Take a look on Google maps to see the size difference.

The confluence of the Allegheny and Mononaghelia rivers in Pittsburgh is a big deal both historically and geographically.

The Allegheny is also about twice the size of the Mononaghelia, so the Allegheny is the true headwater river.

 

[Cap pitt]

Here's an interesting fact: the 5 Grat Lakes touch 8 of the United States.
All 5 Great Lakes however, are contained within 1 Canadian province, Ontario.
Such is the geographical vastness of Canada

But still, all 8 states are in the vastness of the USA, so?

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

The only head scratcher in Gordon Lightfoot’s classic is his mention of Cleveland when the song is very clearly about Lake Superior.

"Headed for Cleveland". It was loaded with Iron Ore. Cleveland had the huge steel works there. It is not a head scratcher.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

More interesting than all of that.... the Ohio river is much larger than the Mississippi river in terms of cubic feet per second of water flow where the two rivers meet in Cairo Illinois (almost 50% greater volume of water). The headwaters of the largest river in the USA is in Western PA..... not Minnesota (the headwaters of the Mississippi). Take a look on Google maps to see the size difference.

The confluence of the Allegheny and Mononaghelia rivers in Pittsburgh is a big deal both historically and geographically.

The Allegheny is also about twice the size of the Mononaghelia, so the Allegheny is the true headwater river.

The Mon is also one of the few larger rivers that flows north.

 

[JD1976]

"Headed for Cleveland". It was loaded with Iron Ore. Cleveland had the huge steel works there. It is not a head scratcher.

Considering Cleveland is not on Lake Superior you can understand my initial confusion. Others have explained it. Thank you and RIP Gordon Lightfoot.

 

[thebadby2]

Here's an interesting fact: the 5 Grat Lakes touch 8 of the United States.
All 5 Great Lakes however, are contained within 1 Canadian province, Ontario.
Such is the geographical vastness of Canada

Geez, I've lived in Michigan nearly all of my life and have spent countless summer days and weeks on Lake Michigan from north to south, and never knew it touched any part of Canada.

You learn something new every day online. Not necessarily accurate, but new.

For instance, I never knew the earth was flat until I read that online. I always thought it was round.

 

[thebadby2]

Lake Erie beach at Cedar Point/Breakers hotel is beautiful. Hard to believe it is a lake, like being at the shore. A lot nicer than Presque Isle, although I like that also.

And the best beach on Lake Erie can't hold a candle to the least of the beaches anywhere on the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan. Two completely different worlds.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

And the best beach on Lake Erie can't hold a candle to the least of the beaches anywhere on the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan. Two completely different worlds.

never been there but have heard similar things to what you are saying. Hopefully at some point I can make the trip (recommendations??). I was just surprised how nice the beach was at Cedar point and that it was Lake Erie.

 

[The Ole Six-Fiver]

And the best beach on Lake Erie can't hold a candle to the least of the beaches anywhere on the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan. Two completely different worlds.

The issue with both of course is that getting good weather for the beach is a lottery ticket. Nothing is worse than a beach trip that has constant rain IMO…the mind spins with vacation days and numbers of dollars wasted. So Presque serves that well, it can be done in a day, planned on the drop off a hat on a Sunny day, it doesn’t waste loads of time and money if there Is poor weather when the dates of the trip finally come along.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

The issue with both of course is that getting good weather for the beach is a lottery ticket. Nothing is worse than a beach trip that has constant rain IMO…the mind spins with vacation days and numbers of dollars wasted. So Presque serves that well, it can be done in a day, planned on the drop off a hat on a Sunny day, it doesn’t waste loads of time and money if there Is poor weather when the dates of the trip finally come along.

plus with poor weather you can always divert to splash lagoon for the day

 

[pittdan77]

I sometimes have trouble with scale when I look at a map. A lot of that has to do with distortions caused by trying to take a sphere but stuff like this is always interesting.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Considering Cleveland is not on Lake Superior you can understand my initial confusion. Others have explained it. Thank you and RIP Gordon Lightfoot.

Yeah but the song was about the ship Edmund Fitzgerald who sank in Lake Superior. it was not about Lake Superior.

 

[upj87]

More interesting than all of that.... the Ohio river is much larger than the Mississippi river in terms of cubic feet per second of water flow where the two rivers meet in Cairo Illinois (almost 50% greater volume of water). The headwaters of the largest river in the USA is in Western PA..... not Minnesota (the headwaters of the Mississippi). Take a look on Google maps to see the size difference.

The confluence of the Allegheny and Mononaghelia rivers in Pittsburgh is a big deal both historically and geographically.

The Allegheny is also about twice the size of the Mononaghelia, so the Allegheny is the true headwater river.

the Ohio river is much larger than the Mississippi river in terms of cubic feet per second of water flow where the two rivers meet in Cairo Illinois (almost 50% greater volume of water). The headwaters of the largest river in the USA is in Western PA..... not Minnesota (the headwaters of the Mississippi). Take a look on Google maps to see the size difference.

uh, no..... Man, I am being quite the Cliff Calvin on this thread. Headwaters are determined by distance to the mouth from the initial source (ie headwater). The headwater of the Allegheny is closer to the mouth of the Mississippi in New Orleans than the actual headwater of the Mississippi at the trickle that flows from Lake Itaska in Northern Minnesota...

that being said, try to go figure out the whole Missouri/Mississippi river pissing match...

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

And the best beach on Lake Erie can't hold a candle to the least of the beaches anywhere on the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan. Two completely different worlds.

No kidding. The time I stumbled upon Grand Haven, I was astounded. Huge sandy beaches, nice waves, lot of recreational stuff. You would have thought you were in OCMD more than a beat on the Great Lakes.