Washing Over

Waves pushed by 40 plus mile per hour winds wash over the pier at South Haven, Michigan, on a stormy November afternoon.

Relatively common to the area, high waves collide with the lighthouse and pier creating dramatic splashes that can exceed 70 feet in height. While not a record storm, this storm brought winds and waves for a few days in a row, pushing the waters of Lake Michigan into the Black River, where water overflowed the banks and poured onto the nearby picnic area.



Visitors needed to stay back, not only to keep dry, but also to keep from being knocked over and possibly washed into the cold, churning lake.

Always fickle, some days, Lake Michigan is as still as a pond, yet storms often turn the body of water into a dangerous but beautiful monster.