I can tell you from three personal experiences that the white squalls are very   
   real. We called then “line squalls” because they whip the top of the lake   
   right off and it forms a white line from horizon to horizon as is rushes at   
   you.  I have seen two    
   of them on Georgian Bay (off Lake Huron) back in the 50s go from calm to   
   between 60 to 80 knots in less than a minute and In the early years of the   
   21st century one of them was recorded at 100 knots in places.  We only got 85   
   knots out of that one on the    
   southeast shore of Georgian Bay but that was plenty.  It knocked out power all   
   across Ontario.   
      
   The line squalls or white squalls almost always move from west to east as a   
   frontal system.  They seem to occur on hot, sultry summer day and are followed   
   by cold air.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)