Past-E-Mail

Apr 21-13

Past-E-Mail: Cam Notes - 2013: April: Apr 21-13

Accident in 1905 ...scroll down to share comments

Wind damage in 2013 ...scroll down to share comments

Sunday-What'sUP April 21 - 10:15 pm

By Charlie at Pasty Central (Chopper) on Sunday, April 21, 2013 - 09:20 am:

Last Thursday was the first time I can recall ever receiving a blizzard warning on our cell phones here in the Keweenaw. As the fierce snow and wind moved in, Joe Kirkish was up in the Calumet Theatre, looking down on the street below, where he snapped these pictures. Something else was snapping farther up the peninsula: the tower at Sunset Bay that brings the webcam updates, a rugged view of the Lake Superior shoreline. It is one of several scenes that appear on the Bridge Cam.

You can see in the second photo above, yesterday I snowshoed into the campground and got this picture from behind the maintenance building. The dunes of snow are as much as 7 feet deep in places, almost burying some of the smaller buildings. It gave me a shiver to take this picture, because I've been on the top of that tower - in the wind - but nothing like the gale we had on the 18th and 19th that brought it down.

It was the 15th of April in 1905 when the steamer Northern Wave plowed into the swing bridge that spanned the Portage Canal at the time. I think we featured the top photo a few years ago, and you can read more about it at CopperRange.org. The Lift Bridge was eventually constructed, and would become one of the first hi-res webcams on the Internet, here at Pasty Central. We'll look forward to the Sunset Bay Cam returning to that page in about a month.

Have a good week :o)

By Shirley Waggoner (Shirlohio) on Sunday, April 21, 2013 - 09:33 am:

Charlie, God must've been watching over you when you were on that tower. Thank goodness you weren't there during the last 'blow'!
Boy, what a mess in 1905!

By philip odum (Phishinfill) on Sunday, April 21, 2013 - 09:46 am:

Great archival shot..looks to be shot looking at the houghton side.i see the stone building that still stands today there in the background. thanks for sharing.!!!

By Stephen Pummill (Stevecpumm) on Sunday, April 21, 2013 - 09:54 am:

Charlie, The picture of the damaged swing bridge brings to mind thoughts of a 'plan b' if the lift bridge is ever put out of service. Hope the county/state authorities have something in place.

By Capt. Paul (Eclogite) on Sunday, April 21, 2013 - 12:47 pm:

Just so you know Charlie, we receive everything from weather warnings to amber alerts to civil disorder statements on our cell phone here in SE Texas. I believe that is something that just started within the past year here and may be spreading to other parts of the country as I know folks in the Twin Cities and the Denver area also receive these notices from time to time.

I do recall that there was still some snow on the ground and growlers floating around the lake when I graduated in '04, so this isn't really anything unprecedented when it comes to Copper Country weather. With all the winter craziness, I'm hoping to see a little green in July when we're there...... ;-)

By sometimesyooper (Nancyd) on Sunday, April 21, 2013 - 04:03 pm:

Yes, here in Evergreen, CO we get the messages on our cell
phones. Sometimes even when something like a wild fire is
not actually in our area - still working out the bugs. So many
people here don't have land lines, I guess it's a necessity.

By Marianne Y (Marianne) on Monday, April 22, 2013 - 02:21 pm:

Hi. I got a warning on my cell phone a week ago, when I was sound asleep, and it scared me half to death! I have an iPhone, but I have most of the warning stuff turned off, so only the dire ones will do that, like a tornado warning, etc. I have Amber Alerts turned off, as do other family members, so they don't interrupt meetings they might be in. Also, only the dire ones will come through overnight. I had to change it, because I was getting repeat warning both for us and for my son who is on coop, every hour or two, with all of the flooding going on here and there.

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