When I left the city the Coho was only just becoming plentiful; during most of my childhood the smelt were king. As for alewives, they were gross, washing up on the beaches en masse and stinking to high heaven. The salmon were introduced in part to bring down their number, so it is disappointing that they aren’t gone altogether.
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There’s also a micro-climate at the southern tip of Lake Michigan, known as the Snow Belt of Indiana, because the prevailing conditions there are those weather patterns from the west PLUS what comes due south from Canada down the entirety of Lake Michigan before crashing into land again in NW Indiana.
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Given what I know about Gary, IN, that must be some lovely multi-colored snow. 
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I’ve been caught in a total white-out just outside Michigan City. It was terrifying. You couldn’t see 5’ in front of your vehicle.
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It’s been a while since I looked, but last I checked, Chicago had some of the best global warming planning going. I’m not sure what they called for as far as lake level because the research is split on projections, so they might have sidestepped the issue.
Lake Michigan coho are some of the best tasting fish I have ever had. It is too bad they are a lot of work to catch these days, because of low stocking numbers. (Low stocking because low numbers of baitfish)
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Exactly. I’ve spent many a winter driving in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Colorado, Canada, and parts of New England…I’ve never seen true white-out conditions like we see every winter in NW Indiana. It’s truly frightening.
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If you’re going to introduce one new species to get rid of another, the new one might as well taste good.
Rotting alewives were so much a part of my childhood that when I first read LOTR every time an Ent referred to “Entwife”, in my head I heard “alewife”.
I’ve lived in both Wisconsin and Minnesota, don’t remember any really opaque blizzards. The most hazardous place I’ve ever driven in winter is Oregon, where I commuted from Portland to Corvallis; when the highway iced up it was still warm enough to keep a layer of liquid water on the surface. My years driving in the midwest did not prepare me for that!
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NW Indiana was also where I saw golf ball sized hail in the early summer
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I was too young to drive while living in WI, and didn’t do much driving in MN, but I’ve done 23 winters of driving in Michigan. I’ve never seen anything like it. Not even the time there was purple lightning during a blizzard in MN (I swear this had nothing to do with Prince even though it was '86 or '87). I sincerely hope to never be behind the wheel during a total white out again.
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The Snow Belt is where I learned the trick of putting on the car’s flashers, not fog lights (or god forbid, high beams!).
When it gets like that, you can’t just pull over and wait it out, because someone will rear-end you if you do. You have to keep going. So you put on your flashers, which flash on all 4 sides of your car, and they’re red rather than white.
I know I’ve told the story here on the BBS before that I’ve watched other drivers go through the same moment of awakening that I did the first time. Gee, this is scary; I can’t see if there are any other vehicles near me, and I can’t see the road. Wait, here’s a car, and he’s got his flashers on. And here’s another. Huh, the 18-wheeler too. Why do they all have…OOOOOHHHHH. (puts flashers on)
BTW, there’s a similar issue with extreme rain downpours, too, in that part of Indiana. Same defensive driving rules apply.
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The hazard lights during heavy rain is definitely practiced around here. I think we instinctively turned on the hazards as soon as the semi in front of us did - that guy must’ve seen the wall-o-snow coming.
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In Illinois you cannot drive with your flashers on by law. Not that it stops anyone mind you.
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Wait, really?
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It’s true. It came up on another thread recently.
https://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/hazard-light-use/
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Well shiver me timbers!
I notice that Indiana states “except in emergency situations”. Very wise of them.
As you said, though, it’s not like the police are likely to stop a car with hazard lights on in such a situation. Or anytime, really, at least not in Chicago.
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