Tag Archives: Freshwater Fury

This Day in the Yesteryear: GREAT LAKES STORM REACHES PEAK FEROCITY (1913)


Great Lakes Storm Reaches Peak Ferocity (1913)

The deadliest and most destructive natural disaster ever to hit the Great Lakes region, the “Big Blow,” “Freshwater Fury,” or “White Hurricane,” as it is variously known, was a blizzard with hurricane-force winds that battered parts of the US and Canada for several days in November 1913. Approximately 250 people died in the violent storm—all of them sailors who perished when their ships were wrecked or sunk on the lakes. How tall were the swells that vessels had to contend with during the storm? More… Discuss