Weather

OK, checking out the weather trends on Lake Erie. Winds are usually from the South to the West in the summer, although I haven't yet found mean wind speeds. Gales occur about one percent of the time, while thunderstorms occur about three percent of the time. T-storms mostly occur during the night about 5-10 days in July and August, less in June. SW and NE winds can result in dangerous seas, especially in the eastern half of the lake. Waves of five feet are fairly common, with higher ones possible. Visibility problems are mostly seen in Spring and Fall, not Summer.

With the exception of average wind speeds, which I am still looking for, that pretty much sums it up. But it's not really the whole story. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, about 60-65 feet on average. (It's the only one of the lakes with its bed above sea level.) Shallow waters produce different kinds of waves from deeper waters. Five foot waves are no big deal, if they are far apart and not steep... boats just slide over them, since the point of boats is to float, after all. But the steeper, choppier waves of shallow water can be more difficult.