Every summer, swimmers flock to Lake Michigan’s inviting shores, yet it quietly holds a deadly title. The lake’s notorious rip currents, which can pull even strong swimmers far from safety, have claimed more lives in recent years than any other Great Lake.
Lake Michigan spans 307 miles in length and 118 miles at its widest point, holding just over 1,000 cubic miles of water. Its average depth is 279 feet, with a maximum of 923 feet. This enormous inland sea generates its own weather systems, moves in complex underwater currents, and stays cold enough to preserve what sinks into it for decades.For thousands of years before European settlement, Indige…