BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The National Weather Service in Buffalo, New York, said Lake Erie experienced a seiche after this week’s storm, causing water levels to rise up to eight feet in some areas.
“Lake Erie is shallow, relative to the other ones, so it sort of works like a big bathtub,” said Michael Fries, meteorologist in charge with the National Weather Service in Buffalo. “It’s like, you know, you get in the bathtub, all the water moves back and forth when you place in it because the pressure pushes down on one side of the lake and then the wind pushes all the water to the other end, not all the water, but a large amount of the water.”
As water levels rose on Western New York’s shorelines, people living on the west side of Lake Erie in Michigan, had a chance to explore what’s usually hidden beneath the water during the seiche.
“It’s like being a kid again and going out on a treasure hunt, you never know what you’re going to find,” said Austin Lada, who lives in Luna Pier, Michigan. “You hope to find something, and if you find nothing at all, at least it’s a cool experience getting to see what’s on the lake bed.”
On Monday, Lada and others were able to walk from Luna Pier to Erie Beach, and in some areas could walk a quarter-mile to a half-mile out from where the shoreline usually is.
“Most of the areas that we were searching in, typically you would be in ten or twelve feet of water, we were standing on sand,” said Lada.
While exploring, they discovered some unhidden treasures.
Their first find was an old car axel and frame of a Volkswagen Beetle that went through the ice in 1969.
“Luna Pier, being the small community that it is, as soon as word got out that we had found it, we also found the rightful owner and heard the story about how it happened,” said Lada. “They were on the ice, pulling some kids around on skis, and the Volkswagen went under, never to be seen again until Monday.”
They also found a snowmobile that went through the ice a few years ago.
“Also knew who the owner of that was, later on that day we had some friends that took a four wheeler, got out there, pulled the sled out and he’s going to try to restore it,” said Lada.
They also found a class ring.
“We are going to get it cleaned up to see if we can find anything else, but based on what we researched, we think that the ring is probably between 60 to 70 years old,” said Lada. “We don’t know how long it’s been in the water, I can tell you the stone in the middle was like sea glass, it’s obviously been there long enough to be smoothed out.”
Lada said they experience seiches a few times a year and encourages people to learn the safety hazards of a seiche before exploring.
“For people who have never experienced it or gone out there, read up on it, and learn up about it before you go out there,” said Lada. “There are a lot of safety hazards to be aware of.”