Severe rain and thunderstorms in West Michigan this week caused a rare weather event — a meteotsunami in Lake Michigan.

Meteotsunamis are large waves typically triggered by disturbances in the air pressure like severe thunderstorms, unlike tsunamis, which are caused by seismic activity like earthquakes, according to the National Weather Service’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The meteotsunami in Lake Michigan occurred Tuesday at beaches near Ludington and Holland, according to the NWS. The oceanic weather event caused waves that reached 2 feet tall, said Joe Ceru, meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Grand Rapids office.

“A line of severe thunderstorms moved through southwest lower Michigan,” Ceru said. “Along that system, there was rapidly changing air pressure that caused the water levels along the lakeshore to fluctuate rapidly.”

A camera at Holland State Park caught the intensity of the waves.

During a meteotsunami, heavy storms cause waves that move toward the shore and coastal features like a shallow continental shelf and inlet or bay intensify the waves.

Scientists are just beginning to understand the phenomenon, according to NOAA. Meteotsunamis can reach heights of 6 feet or more and can occur in various parts of the world, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Coast, and the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas, NOAA says. 

“They (meteotsunamis) can occur in all five Great Lakes but most often occur in Lake Michigan,” Ceru said. “The most meteotsunamis occur typically from April to July.”

Meteotsunamis are rare in Michigan, the last one occurred in April 2018 when winds during a thunderstorm reached 71 mph causing an 8-foot wave near Ludington. The last meteotsunami before that was in 2014.

This article is being republished through a syndication agreement with Bridge Michigan. Bridge Michigan is Michigan’s largest nonprofit news service and one of the nation’s leading and largest nonprofit civic news providers. Their coverage is nonpartisan, fact-based, and data-driven. Find them online at https://www.bridgemi.com/.