Hazardous weather blows through Ottawa County with gale force winds, 7-foot lake waves
A hazardous weather outlook, with gale warnings and lake waves up to 7 feet, was issued by the National Weather Service for northwest Ohio from Monday afternoon through early Tuesday for Ottawa, Sandusky, Lucas, Wood, Hancock, Seneca and Wyandot counties.
The warning was issued at 3:34 p.m. Monday and continued through most of the night, ending at 4 a.m. Tuesday in Ottawa County, without further expectation of hazardous conditions. East of Ottawa County snow is expected to continue along the Lake Erie shoreline.
Northwest winds increased through Monday evening into the night with gusts of 30 to 40 mph. Snow showers also continued through the evening, with visibility reduced in brief bursts of snow.
Fred Petersen, Ottawa County Emergency Management Agency director, summarized the situation for residents of Ottawa County on Monday.
"There's some high winds. They are northwest winds... I don't think we're going to see any flooding as a result of it. Some areas that might be a little bit prone to erosion, they might get some of that, but nothing to an emergency level. We're not expecting that," Petersen said. "As far as travel to and from the islands, it affects that greatly."
"Most of the homes won't be affected," Petersen said. "Northwest wind, yeah, they will be crashing in, but it shouldn't be anything the shoreline can't handle. You will probably see bigger waves out east of the islands, when it gets more in the open waters of Lake Erie. It's something we are going to watch, but not something we expect to have problems with."
Tuesday morning, Petersen said damage in the county was minor.
"We did have a few limbs down and a couple of power lines here and there. As of 9:20 this morning, I'm not aware of any power outages in the county, so everything has been restored that had been lost, which was relatively minor," Petersen said.
Lisa Kuelling, Sandusky County Emergency Management Agency director, said she was keeping an eye on whether the weather would impact Sandusky County.
"We will be watching our bay pretty close, because anything like that could kick back into the bay," Kuelling said. "I don't foresee anything like what (Ottawa County) is expected to be getting."
No flooding advisories had been issued.
The NWS gale warning on Monday stated "strong winds will cause hazardous waves which could capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibilities, from Maumee Bay to Geneva-on-the-Lake and north to the U.S.-Canada border. Winds to increase to 20-25 knots this morning before strengthening to gales this morning evening into the overnight hours."
News Herald photography at the shore at Catawba Island did show significant increases in wave activity.
Warnings for the open waters around the Ohio islands were also affected, as well as the open waters of Lake Erie from Maumee Bay to the islands, beyond 5 nautical miles off shore to the U.S.-Canadian border.
Precautionary preparedness actions were recommended for mariners, to "alter plans to avoid these hazardous conditions, including: remaining in port, seeking safe harbor, altering course, and securing the vessel for severe conditions."
rlapointe@gannett.com
419-332-2674
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Gale force winds, 4-7 foot waves hit Ottawa County, Lake Erie
