Lake Erie storms coming too often and too soon: Expert
A sustained period of high winds and waves is creating quite a sight along the Lake Erie shoreline.
It has sparked some conservation authorities to warn of shoreline flooding, especially towards Chatham-Kent and Windsor.
But the primary concern for the Catfish Creek Conservation Authority, near Port Bruce, is the storm’s timing.
“It’s earlier than what we’d normally observe,” states Peter Dragunas, a water management technician.
Dragunas says extreme waves and winds are usually not seen until late October or November
It’s a worry for Carol McNiece of Aylmer.
“Could be something to do with climate warming,” she contends.
Carol McNiece, right, and a friend rode to Port Bruce, Ont. Monday, Sept. 27, 2021. McNiece expected the ride home with the wind at her back to be quick. She worries about climate change impacting Lake Erie. (Sean Irvine / CTV News)
McNiece rode her bicycle to Port Bruce with a friend Monday morning. Against the headwind, she says the trip took 10 minutes longer than it typically does.
But, she was looking forward to a much quicker ride home, “Yes, I’ll be blown right home to Aylmer."
And as she is, Dragunas is not discrediting her theory on global warming.
He says recent weather events have him pondering the same concept, although full data is not yet available.
Marlene Meurs in Port Bruce, Ont. on Monday, Sept. 27, 2021. (Sean Irvine / CTV News)
Marlene Meurs isn’t sure what causing it, but she and her parents know it’s not typical.
“My dad says it looks like the weather from when the Edmond Fitzgerald went down,” Meurs tells CTV News London.
She added, “In the last 50 years, maybe three years it’s done this, that I can remember. But not usually this early.”
Still, while weather experts consider the impacts, for others the high winds and waves are simply an attraction.
Perry Gallant has called Port Bruce home for 18 months. The local artist was about to pick through mounds of driftwood blown ashore.
Perry Gallant speaks in Port Bruce, Ont. on Monday, Sept. 27, 2021. (Sean Irvine / CTV News)
But he was also watching his step, and the force of Mother Nature, as he did.
“You got to take the good, the bad, with the ugly. And be prepared for whatever she throws at you.”
And while it’s not a good idea to get too close, Gallant says if you do get ‘closer,’ to be prepared.
“Unless you got a little hot bowl of soup and a hot chocolate, don’t do it.”
The high winds and waves, which have battered the shoreline for the majority of the weekend were to ease Monday afternoon.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.