Video: Tuesday’s storms triggered a meteotsunami at Holland State Park

Blake Harms and Sara Flynn

2 hours ago

PARK TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — A camera at Holland State Park captured a meteotsunami moving toward the coast as a line of severe thunderstorms hit Tuesday morning.

A meteotsunami is a type of large wave that occurs when a line of fast-moving storms moves across a body of water. This was clearly visible at Holland State Park Tuesday morning, with lake water spilling onto the beach as the squall line passed.

Unlike a classic tsunami, meteotsunamis occur when there is a significant difference in atmospheric pressure. When waves crash onto the shore, they are often amplified due to a cove or bay.

Meteotsunamis can be observed throughout the Great Lakes if conditions are right. They are different from cuttlefish, like the one recorded in the law of 1998in which the lake swung back and forth, causing flooding along Michigan’s west coast.

It was strong winds that pushed the waves toward shore, with Holland State Park recording a gust of 65 mph along the leading edge early Tuesday.

Tuesday’s storms Trees and power lines were downed in western Michigan. Muskegon County was particularly hard hit. The damage left more than 160,000 Consumers Energy customers without power across the state, and some The outages continued until Thursday.