ANN ARBOR, MI - Tsunamis in the Great Lakes?
Although typically associated with earthquakes, there's another type of tsunami wave generated by the weather. It's called a "meteotsunami."
They can occur on the Great Lakes and now the University of Michigan's Cooperative for Great Lakes Research (CIGRL) is developing a warning system for them.
The CIGLR is hosting 25 experts from around the world from Monday, June 19 through Wednesday to lay the groundwork for developing a real-time "meteotsunami" warning system for the Great Lakes. The system would meet weather forecast requirements, thus reducing risks due to coastal flooding, preventing swimmer drownings, and increasing the safety of nuclear power plant operations.
According to the CIGRL, tsunamis are a common, yet largely under-recognized phenomenon in the Great Lakes. They are similar to the earthquake-generated tsunamis that occur in the ocean, except they are caused by weather events.
Rapid changes in barometric pressure, often associated with fast-moving weather systems, can generate meteotsunamis. Although many meteotsunamis are too small to notice, large meteotsunamis can have devastating coastal impacts, including damaging waves, flooding and strong currents, that cause significant damage, injury and death.
An average of 106 meteotsunamis are observed each year, according to the CIGRL. For example, in 2003 in Sawyer, seven people drowned in an incident initially attributed to rip currents, though the water level records indicated a moderate meteotsunami occurred around the time of the drownings.
"Developing a warning system for meteotsunamis is a matter of life and death," said CIGLR Director Brad Cardinale, in a news release. "Protecting human lives from the threats of drowning, flooding, and nuclear power disasters is of pressing importance. We are gathering the best tsunami scientists from around the world to meet this critical need."
Participants will include representatives from the National Weather Service, NOAA Center for Tsunami Research, Great Lakes Observing System, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and several U.S. and international universities.