• News
  • Lake Facts
  • About

Lake Scientist

Right Conditions Needed for Frozen Lake Michigan Lighthouses

0
  • by Daniel Kelly
  • — January 10, 2014
South_Haven_lighthouse

Lighthouse at South Haven, Mich. Feb. 5, 2011. (Credit: Anne Hornyak via Creative Commons)

Frozen lighthouses near Lake Michigan are getting a lot of buzz lately. On sites like Twitter and Facebook, photos of lighthouses at St. Joseph and South Haven have gone viral. But it’s now clear that many of the photos weren’t taken during the recent polar vortex that swept parts of the U.S. And meteorologists say more than just extreme cold is needed to turn the structures into ice palaces.

In a talk with mlive.com, T.J. Turnage, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, lays out the right mix of conditions.

First, the temperature of water in Lake Michigan needs to be lower than 40 degrees Fahrenheit. This is joined with big waves, around four feet high, that rely on high wind speeds – around 20 knots – to blow them onshore.

ice_cover_lakes_superior_and_michigan

Ice cover on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Jan. 9, 2014. (Credit: National/Naval Ice Center)

Air temperature plays a role, as colder air means less wind is needed to create heavy freezing spray. While water helps moderate air temperatures, those seen over Lake Michigan in recent days were quite low.

Beyond lake temperature, wave height and wind speed, it simply takes a lot of time for ice to build up around lighthouses. Hours or days of freezing spray conditions are needed for accumulation on the level seen in the viral photos.

The recent cold snap saw temperatures low enough to cool the lake’s water. And wind speeds were gusting at 30 mph. But since Lake Michigan had begun to freeze over long before the polar vortex, Turnage says there wasn’t enough open water. Much of the ice cover had solidified near shore and kept the freezing spray at a distance.

 

 

Share

You may also like...

  • Cool Minnesota lakes reduce spring fish spawns
  • Chandeliering Ice on Minnesota’s Medicine Lake (Video)
  • lake huron lake st clair Results disputed in study of Lake Huron and Michigan water levels
  • Research Summary: Sequencing Lifeforms in Lake Vostok Ice Cores

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.

FishSens SondeCAM HD
  • Recent Posts

    • Sampling on Lake St. Clair, July 29, 2013.Research Brief: Contaminants in a Great Lakes Urban-Dominant WatershedJune 2, 2023
    • Sea LampreyResearch Brief: Incorporating the Two-Eyed Seeing Approach into Sea Lamprey ManagementMay 26, 2023
    • USCGC Mackinaw Entering Duluth HarborResearch Brief: Full-Year Zooplankton Dynamics Along a Nearshore Depth GradientMay 19, 2023
    • Image of Lake 239 at IISD Experimental Lakes Area from aboveResearch Brief: Using Sediment DNA to Determine Long-Term Cyanobacterial DynamicsMay 12, 2023
    • Crystal Clear Problems: Impacts of Water Transparency in Aquatic EcosystemsMay 1, 2023
  • Popular Tags

    Great Lakes research pollution Lake Erie research summary Product Spotlight invasive species Algae international runoff Lake Michigan Ohio dissolved oxygen nutrient-loading EPA temperature eutrophication toxic waters climate change USGS ice phosphorus Asian Carp Michigan restoration

©2023 Fondriest Environmental Inc. | Questions? Call 888.426.2151 or email customercare@fondriest.com