LAKE SUPERIOR, MI – A remote Michigan lighthouse located far from the coast in Lake Superior recorded one of today’s highest wind gusts amid severe winter storm and blizzard conditions across the Upper Peninsula.
Weather equipment on the Stannard Rock Lighthouse recorded winds of 69 mph this morning. According to the lists compiled by the National Weather Service, this is the third highest gust recorded so far during this storm. Top gusts were recorded as 72 mph in Sault Ste. Marie and 70 mph at Ford River near Escanaba.
The historic Stannard Rock Lighthouse is located off the eastern shore of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. Today, a Gale Warning has been issued for those Lake Superior waters until later this evening. Wind gusts as high as 57 mph are possible today, amid waves reaching 25 feet.
Built 24 miles off the coast of the Upper Peninsula, Stannard Rock is considered the farthest lighthouse from shore in the contiguous United States. This earned it the dark moniker as “The Loneliest Place on Earth.”
Stannard Rock Lighthouse
History of “The Loneliest Place on Earth.”
Built in 1883, the Stannard Rock station is well known among Great Lakes lighthouse lovers. Its exposed crib — or base structure — is considered one of the top 10 engineering feats in the United States, according to the National Park Service. And it was built to mark a huge underwater reef that was considered one of the most dangerous obstacles to shipping in Lake Superior. The top of a large underwater mountain was found to stand only 4 feet from the surface of the water in some places.
Here’s a little more history to give you a feel for the place, courtesy of a social media post from US Coast Guard Station Marquette:
“The old keepers told terrible tales of life on the Rock. Violent storms in the northwest sent 30-foot waves smashing into the tower and spray cascading over the lighthouse 110 feet above the Lake. Louis Wilks of Marquette holds the record for consecutive time spent on the Rock – 99 days. off In 1939, the Guard of the US Coast took over the lighthouse and great loneliness remained a problem.”
The lighthouse was automated in 1962, a year after a deadly fire and explosion left survivors stranded on Stannard Rock for days until they were spotted by a passing ship. In 1971, the lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
It remains a working aid for navigation. While the lighthouse is closed to the public, it can be seen by boat or plane.
If emergency repairs are needed in the winter, the US Coast Guard will use a helicopter to fly a team to the lighthouse.
Read the original article on mlive.com.