ORANGEVILLE, Mich. (June 26, 2014) — A unique but not unusual phenomenon occurred during severe weather Wednesday in Barry County.
A seiche occurred on the waters of Gun Lake as winds were measured around 60 miles per hour.
A seiche occurs on large bodies of water and are actually quite common in the Great Lakes. The seiche forms when strong winds from one direction force water to the opposite side of the lake. This force causes water to drop on the windward side and rise on the leeward side.
According to the National Weather Service just after 6:30 PM strong sustained winds from a severe storm caused waves to pile up on the southern end of Gun Lake causing water levels on the north end of the lake to drop 8 inches. A local weather observer who reported the drop to the National Weather Service reported that water levels took around 30 minutes to return to normal.
Wednesday night the National Weather Service had 28 reports of severe weather in West Michigan including the wind and damage reports on Gun Lake.
