Lake Mead one of the deadliest lakes in the nation

[PaPaG]

Lake Mead has just been deemed one of the deadliest lakes in America, I know a lot of deaths occur because of so many refuse to wear life jackets or jump into the water without a floating etc...so many deaths are avoidable....

http://www.ktnv.com/news/lake-mead-named-deadliest-national-park-in-america

 

[Enen]

2FF will be along shortly with " THE REAL STORY"

 

[Deja_Vu]

Yosemite is a close second. You can get killed while sleeping in your tent by a falling tree. Doh

 

[bk2drvr]

I read the local news for the tri state area frequently and it always amazes me how many people die each year. One of the common themes I read is the guy or gal jumps in the water to cool off and never comes back up. Never really find out the cause of death in these cases though.

 

[Essexive G's]

It's actually the "Recreation area" which includes Lake Mohave also. With how primative Mohave gets north of the basin you could be in trouble and no one would find you for a week. I would never boat alone on that lake. I could always see myself having boat trouble and end up holding the boat off the rocks for hours until I didn't have the strength to do it any longer. I've come upon the scene of boating accidents where someone died, and drownings more on that lake than all of the other bodies of water I've been on put together. You need to be prepared for anything on that lake.

 

[DaveH]

so whats the point? it is top 3 in visitors at over 7 million a year...so this would be expected.

 

[elfin magic]

Probably just a product of the statistically high number of visitors to that huge area. 250 bodies is quite a pile though, that's almost 2 per month! Other parks must be dangerous too? Denali made the list. I guess they must feed the tourists to the bears ?

 

[DRYHEAT]

The government better shut all these parks and recreation areas down. The general public needs saving from themselves. [emoji6]

 

[Groper]

2FF will be along shortly with " THE REAL STORY"

GRADS will follow with an edited version of 2FF RS :rolleyes

 

[DaveC]

Does that mean it needs a warning label?

 

[jet496]

I remember a bunch of drunk ass people in a big fast boat being kicked out of Echo Bay for being loud & they found them scattered on a little island that popped up from the water dropping. Many died from that incident. Sad.

 

[jayboat]

I remember a bunch of drunk ass people in a big fast boat being kicked out of Echo Bay for being loud & they found them scattered on a little island that popped up from the water dropping. Many died from that incident. Sad.

Tragic.
With that many annual visitors, a little alcohol goes a long way.

 

[PaPaG]

I read the local news for the tri state area frequently and it always amazes me how many people die each year. One of the common themes I read is the guy or gal jumps in the water to cool off and never comes back up. Never really find out the cause of death in these cases though.

That happens all the time at Mead, sort of scary. I know a few rangers and they tell me they have no clue how some of these people are dying after jumping in. A while back a Navy diver had died I think he was 35 years old doing that exact same thing, jumped in and never came up they found him a few days later.

 

[PaPaG]

It's actually the "Recreation area" which includes Lake Mohave also. With how primative Mohave gets north of the basin you could be in trouble and no one would find you for a week. I would never boat alone on that lake. I could always see myself having boat trouble and end up holding the boat off the rocks for hours until I didn't have the strength to do it any longer. I've come upon the scene of boating accidents where someone died, and drownings more on that lake than all of the other bodies of water I've been on put together. You need to be prepared for anything on that lake.

No Joke, always boat in 2's except on the river where there are always good folks to help out, we made a trip on mead up past the narrows one time and we did not see anyone for 4-5 hours, after that I said NOPE stay in the lower section and boat closer to the marina if the traffic is light or alone.

 

[PaPaG]

Our rule was IF YOU GO IN THE WATER at MEAD or any lake or waterway for that matter you have to take a flotation device I know old fart rule but better safe than sorry.

 

[Ouderkirk]

I read the local news for the tri state area frequently and it always amazes me how many people die each year. One of the common themes I read is the guy or gal jumps in the water to cool off and never comes back up. Never really find out the cause of death in these cases though.

Here in the Great Lakes, the top 6 feet is mid 60's to a top of 70 degrees. Below 6 feet the water temp is in the low 40's and you can seize up even when you're not drunk. Below 40' the water temp is 34 degrees.

That's what happens, they hit the thermal change, seize up in the cold water, and can't swim. Go from 110 degrees, (what's the average surface water temp in Mead in the heat of the summer?) How far down is the thermal change? I'd bet it's 6 feet or so just like here, and that lower layer is in the 40's

When I was on Lake Ontario, nobody got in the water offshore without a PFD on.

 

[DILLIGAF]

Here in the Great Lakes, the top 6 feet is mid 60's to a top of 70 degrees. Below 6 feet the water temp is in the low 40's and you can seize up even when you're not drunk. Below 40' the water temp is 34 degrees.

That's what happens, they hit the thermal change, seize up in the cold water, and can't swim. Go from 110 degrees, (what's the average surface water temp in Mead in the heat of the summer?) How far down is the thermal change? I'd bet it's 6 feet or so just like here, and that lower layer is in the 40's

When I was on Lake Ontario, nobody got in the water offshore without a PFD on.

I think that is it for sure. Slip slidinggggg awayyyyyy......

 

[milkmoney]

Our rule was IF YOU GO IN THE WATER at MEAD or any lake or waterway for that matter you have to take a flotation device I know old fart rule but better safe than sorry.

U know I agree with this for everyone except my self for some reason. I have been boating/ swimming in the Lakes and rivers since 1976, the weird thing is I can tread water all day long and not get tired or ever feel like I am going under etc.
I have been told that I am half fish. [emoji202]

Yes I know it only takes once.

 

[rrrr]

That happens all the time at Mead, sort of scary. I know a few rangers and they tell me they have no clue how some of these people are dying after jumping in. A while back a Navy diver had died I think he was 35 years old doing that exact same thing, jumped in and never came up they found him a few days later.

It's not popular with some people, but on my boat if you're gonna jump in the water a PFD is required. I have no idea of their swimming skills or how much they've had to drink.

It's a simple rule, and it might save someone's life. I have been involved in two separate deals where a young fit guy jumped in and didn't resurface. As a rescuer, you can only dive a few times and reach about ten feet down before you're exhausted.

After that it's up to the sheriff's dive team to recover the body.

 

[Ouderkirk]

I think that is it for sure. Slip slidinggggg awayyyyyy......

Yep...everybody thinks the lake is like a bathtub. If the surface is 70 degrees the whole thing must be 70 degrees. They never consider the thermal layers.

Even here when it's in the 90's and the water is 70 degrees, you hit that 40 degree shit and you lock up. It takes real presence of mind and a strong will to overcome it. Most are so shocked by the cold that they immediately exhale, and they then sink like a rock. A 6 foot thermal layer isn't much, and it's easy to go below that jumping in off a boat in deep water. A shitty way to die.

 

[stephenkatsea]

It's actually the "Recreation area" which includes Lake Mohave also. With how primative Mohave gets north of the basin you could be in trouble and no one would find you for a week. I would never boat alone on that lake. I could always see myself having boat trouble and end up holding the boat off the rocks for hours until I didn't have the strength to do it any longer. I've come upon the scene of boating accidents where someone died, and drownings more on that lake than all of the other bodies of water I've been on put together. You need to be prepared for anything on that lake.

Upper Mohave is not a good place for a novice boater. Once came across 2 people waving me down early one morning at the extreme north end just before it narrows towards Willow Beach. They were in a Bayliner with their dog. Said they were broken down and out of food and water for 2 days. Gave them a couple of sandwiches and a couple of bottles of water, then called the Park Rangers. I told them, you do know this is fresh water, right. Had to see the dumb shit looks on their faces.

 

[guest hs]

Storys like this really hurt our business!

 

[Trash]

Here in the Great Lakes, the top 6 feet is mid 60's to a top of 70 degrees. Below 6 feet the water temp is in the low 40's and you can seize up even when you're not drunk. Below 40' the water temp is 34 degrees.

That's what happens, they hit the thermal change, seize up in the cold water, and can't swim. Go from 110 degrees, (what's the average surface water temp in Mead in the heat of the summer?) How far down is the thermal change? I'd bet it's 6 feet or so just like here, and that lower layer is in the 40's

When I was on Lake Ontario, nobody got in the water offshore without a PFD on.

While the water does get cooler the deeper you go on Mead, it is not to the extreme you paint. I've been on Mead for several decades from end to end in every basin. Water temps are low 70s early summer and peak about 78-80 (location dependent) in later summer. The coldest water is MUCH further down than 6 feet. Coldest water is approximately 50 degrees on average at depths beyond normal diving and jumping.

 

[HTMike]

Here in the Great Lakes, the top 6 feet is mid 60's to a top of 70 degrees. Below 6 feet the water temp is in the low 40's and you can seize up even when you're not drunk. Below 40' the water temp is 34 degrees.

I about drown on Lake Michigan jumping off the radar arch of a friends 50' cruiser. My lips barely passed the surface as I took a deep inhale. Scary shit !

 

[buck35]

While the water does get cooler the deeper you go on Mead, it is not to the extreme you paint. I've been on Mead for several decades from end to end in every basin. Water temps are low 70s early summer and peak about 78-80 (location dependent) in later summer. The coldest water is MUCH further down than 6 feet. Coldest water is approximately 50 degrees on average at depths beyond normal diving and jumping.

I guess its what you're used to , I normally start jumping or diving off our dock about memorial Day when the water is in the fifties. At the end of summer it reaches 70ish. i dont lollygag long , but it sure feels good on a hot day.

 

[Letsride22]

Had a close call at Powell a few yrs back. Was tying a line to tow our Nordic behind our Houseboat. Had the line secured to the houseboat and a person just holding the bow of the Nordic. It was choppy and blowing pretty good and the Nordic got away from us. I dived off the back of the houseboat to grab the line and when I came up for a breath I got slapped in the face by a big wave. I started choking and there was nothing to grab onto. I was literally right behind the houseboat, there were 3 people standing right there and I could not get out a word to tell them I was in trouble or to drop the swim deck ladder. Finally my son noticed my struggling and lowered the ladder giving me something to grab onto. I'm 210 lbs, work out regularly, and I am generally like a fish in the water. This shit can happen to anybody, and if my son hadn't noticed my struggle it is likely I would not have made it. When I got out of the water I was exhausted and they were all shocked! They had no idea how dire my situation really was. Drowning is a silent killer, that's because most people who drown cannot cry out for help. I can testify to that.

 

[buck35]

Someone on another site once posted a very good video on drowning, the silent killer, I wish I knew the link. The symtoms are not at all what people think as the victims strugle afraid to open their mouth to cry out and simply slip under the water quietly. :eek

 

[Old Texan]

Here in the Great Lakes, the top 6 feet is mid 60's to a top of 70 degrees. Below 6 feet the water temp is in the low 40's and you can seize up even when you're not drunk. Below 40' the water temp is 34 degrees.

That's what happens, they hit the thermal change, seize up in the cold water, and can't swim. Go from 110 degrees, (what's the average surface water temp in Mead in the heat of the summer?) How far down is the thermal change? I'd bet it's 6 feet or so just like here, and that lower layer is in the 40's

When I was on Lake Ontario, nobody got in the water offshore without a PFD on.

My Folks loved the UP and we vacationed most summers along Superior. I was around 12 and we were staying outside Marquette and I was swimming in the shallow sand flats near Christmas. Sunny days and the shallow water was quite warm. 2 days later we were camped at Ft. Wilkins SP on Superior. Air was cooler but clear and sunny, about 65F. I decided I'd go swimming.

Walked down the rocks and dove into Lake Superior and my heart nearly stopped! Luckily my dive was shallow and I was back on the surface and almost skimming on top, out of the water and was back and out in a flash. Damn that was cold......Saw a Ranger on the way back to camp and he told me the water temp was 35F. He also mentioned Superior's bottom temp on average is a degree or so warmer than the surface temp. He chuckled about my telling him how the water in the shallows at Christmas were warmer and how I learned a close call lesson to put a toe in before I leap.

Later in the week the good weather finally left us and a squall with 50 mph gusts blew up 20' foot waves breaking over the rocks. Superior as anyone familiar with her knows is one of the most unpredictable and dangerous lakes in the world along with being the one of the most beautiful.

 

[coolchange]

Had a buddy jump off the boat to go to the bottom of the river to tell someone how deep it was. Couple of seconds later a big thump. He came up under the boat and hit his head HARD. I thought this is going to be bad. BUt he came up ok.

 

[Ouderkirk]

While the water does get cooler the deeper you go on Mead, it is not to the extreme you paint. I've been on Mead for several decades from end to end in every basin. Water temps are low 70s early summer and peak about 78-80 (location dependent) in later summer. The coldest water is MUCH further down than 6 feet. Coldest water is approximately 50 degrees on average at depths beyond normal diving and jumping.

It figured Mead being a reservoir might be different than the Great Lakes in regards to the layering effect. What I have said about the water layers on Lake Ontario is very accurate . 6 feet give or take a foot is the normal top layer and the 40 degrees to 40 feet and 34 degrees to 500 feet. The layers are very distinct and out in the middle of the lake you can be in water that is 70 degrees at the surface, you can bob down into the second layer with your feet and it is damned cold.

Having been on all the Great Lakes, Superior is just plain cold year round. Michigan and Huron are not as deep and have less wave action driving the surface layers. Erie has a similarly to Ontario except the change is at 8-9 feet. Ontario has a wind tide that drives the surface layer to the east and the cold water upwells on the west so the top layer is constantly moving even in the summer. Lake Ontario has a seiche as well and the action from that keeps the layers pretty distinct.

I got off of Ontario because it is too unpredictable. The wave action can go from flat to 4 feet in a few hours. It's not the 4 feet it's the period of 3 seconds that gets to you. You just pound over those waves and there is no letting up and no escape

 

[Letsride22]

Someone on another site once posted a very good video on drowning, the silent killer, I wish I knew the link. The symtoms are not at all what people think as the victims strugle afraid to open their mouth to cry out and simply slip under the water quietly. :eek

I think I read this article. In my case I had to much water in my lungs to speak. All I could do was cough and gasp for air.

 

[buck35]

I think I read this article. In my case I had to much water in my lungs to speak. All I could do was cough and gasp for air.

Every boater should see this , especially if they have children! It was very eye opening and I made the stepsons watch it, because of the grandkids.


edit in, it was a video from a highly trained life guard I believe. Well worth the search and 5 to 10 minutes to watch.

 

[2Driver]

I . One of the common themes I read is the guy or gal jumps in the water to cool off and never comes back up. Never really find out the cause of death in these cases though.

I think you'd be safe if you went with: drowned

 

[STV_Keith]

It figured Mead being a reservoir might be different than the Great Lakes in regards to the layering effect.

Mead has thermoclines, but I want to say the first one is about 8-10' and the second about 30' or so. It's been a while since I dove the lake. It gets cold quick though, even when it's nice at the surface.

 

[buck35]

Every boater should see this , especially if they have children! It was very eye opening and I made the stepsons watch it, because of the grandkids.


edit in, it was a video from a highly trained life guard I believe. Well worth the search and 5 to 10 minutes to watch.

I didn't see any response to this but check out silent drowning on Google. Anyone with children really should watch these .

I'm not usually a preacher on things but this is a life changing thing. It can happen with an adult just as easy , be safe and keep an eye on everyone in the water!

 

[PaPaG]

Crazy, Another body found today at Lake Mead today. A tourist went missing a short time ago. They found him in the water today...not good..sounds like foul play, hope they find out what really happened to him.


http://www.news8000.com/news/missing-la-crosse-man-found-in-lake-mead/386074766

 

[Trash]

It figured Mead being a reservoir might be different than the Great Lakes in regards to the layering effect. What I have said about the water layers on Lake Ontario is very accurate . 6 feet give or take a foot is the normal top layer and the 40 degrees to 40 feet and 34 degrees to 500 feet. The layers are very distinct and out in the middle of the lake you can be in water that is 70 degrees at the surface, you can bob down into the second layer with your feet and it is damned cold.

Having been on all the Great Lakes, Superior is just plain cold year round. Michigan and Huron are not as deep and have less wave action driving the surface layers. Erie has a similarly to Ontario except the change is at 8-9 feet. Ontario has a wind tide that drives the surface layer to the east and the cold water upwells on the west so the top layer is constantly moving even in the summer. Lake Ontario has a seiche as well and the action from that keeps the layers pretty distinct.

I got off of Ontario because it is too unpredictable. The wave action can go from flat to 4 feet in a few hours. It's not the 4 feet it's the period of 3 seconds that gets to you. You just pound over those waves and there is no letting up and no escape

I don't doubt one bit what you've said regarding the Great Lakes. I've been on them too and agree with what you posted.

There are large basins on Mead where the water is effectively stagnant like a lake, and the temperature does indeed get cooler as you go down, just not crazy stupid cold.

 

[Headless hula]

My Folks loved the UP and we vacationed most summers along Superior. I was around 12 and we were staying outside Marquette and I was swimming in the shallow sand flats near Christmas. Sunny days and the shallow water was quite warm. 2 days later we were camped at Ft. Wilkins SP on Superior. Air was cooler but clear and sunny, about 65F. I decided I'd go swimming.

Walked down the rocks and dove into Lake Superior and my heart nearly stopped! Luckily my dive was shallow and I was back on the surface and almost skimming on top, out of the water and was back and out in a flash. Damn that was cold......Saw a Ranger on the way back to camp and he told me the water temp was 35F. He also mentioned Superior's bottom temp on average is a degree or so warmer than the surface temp. He chuckled about my telling him how the water in the shallows at Christmas were warmer and how I learned a close call lesson to put a toe in before I leap.

Later in the week the good weather finally left us and a squall with 50 mph gusts blew up 20' foot waves breaking over the rocks. Superior as anyone familiar with her knows is one of the most unpredictable and dangerous lakes in the world along with being the one of the most beautiful.

The week of the 4th of July back in '12 or '13 it was unbearably hot here. 104 and 100% humidity. Awful.

I threw the wife and kids in the truck with our camping gear. 4 hours and 15 minutes later we were in Ontanogan.
We camped for 2 nights at union bay. It was 70 and gorgeous. Literally flat as a pancake. We swam out a ways into the bay. I found a rock as wide as a house in about 15 feet of water. It was perfect to stand on, with just my head out of the water. It was 60. To say it's quite refreshing is an understatement. Took the family up the Lake of the Clouds too. then drove through Houghton Hancock and toured the Quincy mine, and then to Ft Wilkins. Neatest place I've taken the family.
I absolutely LOVE the u.p. it's just as nice on a sled:skull.


The only time I'll swim in lake Superior is middle of summer. It's damn cold up there.