[northside]

You are right. The ‘Witch of November’ in the song, refers to the storm.

[Getready]

I believe the “witch of November” alludes to a series of storms in November 1913 or somewhere around that time when about 6 boats were lost in a brief time period centering around November. Most of the sailors supposedly knew of that history. So, Lightfoot put that line in the song...great songwriting.