In addition to being a Lightfoot nut I'm also a bus nut I happened to see this in a transit newsletter online this morning lol....
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Weather Trivia:
In the ballad, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," Gordon Lightfoot refers to the "wicked witch of November." What does he mean?
Answer: During the month of November, very cold air masses begin moving south from the Arctic and frequently clash with very warm, moist air that flows up from the Gulf of Mexico. This clash mostly occurs over the southern prairies resulting in the development of powerful storms. As these storms travel over the warm waters of the Great Lakes they intensify further, with winds frequently reaching hurricane force. Freezing rain often accompany these storms.
These storms wreak havoc on Great Lakes shipping, and the mariners refer to them as the "wicked witches of November".
It was one such storm that caught the ore freighter Edmund Fitzgerald near the entrance to Whitefish Bay, on Lake Superior. The hurricane force winds and freezing rain together, was more than the ship could handle, and a series of large waves broke the Edmund Fitzgerald in two.
Klaus Biemann
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