Nearly 85 percent of Great Lakes covered by ice

[RandySF]

Nearly 85 percent of the Great Lakes were covered in ice as of Sunday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The figure is not only well above the long term average for ice coverage of the Great Lakes, it's approaching last year's peak of 92.5 percent coverage on March 6, weather experts said.

An image released by NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory on Monday shows Lake Erie is "a vast white plain." Along with Lake Huron and Lake Superior, it is more than 90 percent ice covered with small areas of open water.

Scientists have said that the prolonged deep freeze that has led to the ice coverage could bring cooler temperatures for the region this spring.


http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/02/23/nearly-percent-great-lakes-covered-ice/23912401/

[chillfactor]

1. New Mexico is being blanketed....

with snow, rain, and ice...the weather people do not care about us...thank goodness for local coverage..or we would be in the dark...

[Art_from_Ark]

2. Brrrrrrr

That satellite image looks like something out of "The Day After"

[marym625]

3. no. I won't have it

I want this to be a nice spring and summer.

I was by the lake the other day and thought, I don't remember ever seeing so much of it frozen. Guess I was right.

Oh, lake Michigan in Chicago

[jakeXT]

5. Did you see some ice caves ?

GLEN ARBOR, MI -- Glen Arbor resident Eric LaPaugh is familiar with the spot along the Leelanau County shoreline where he ventured into an ice cave over the weekend.

If it was summer, the water would have been up to his knees. On Sunday, he was standing on ice and looking at stalactites on a sunny but bitterly cold day.

He took a 30-second video from inside the ice cave off Glen Arbor, proclaiming it the most beautiful place in America throughout all seasons as his dog, Kelty, looked in.

"It's pretty cool to be able to witness Mother Nature's beauty like that," LaPaugh told the Grand Rapids Press and MLive. "I mean, being inside of that ice cave was like, to me, being inside of a Sistine Chapel or some kind of beautiful Mother Nature cathedral with those ice stalactites."



http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2015/02/see_30_seconds_inside_an_ice_c.html

[marym625]

9. Wow! Beautiful!

No, I didn't. But I would love to see that in person. Nature can be cruel and beautiful at the same time. That's extraordinary. Gorgeous. But I hate it happened because of the never ending, extreme winter.

Thanks for sharing!

[jakeXT]

10. Maybe Chicago isn't cold enough for that /nt

[freshwest]

4. Doesn't that decrease lake effect snow to the east? Or so I heard.

And from the link, it appears to be a good thing for the ecosystem at the shoreline.

[awoke_in_2003]

14. Yes, it does...

Lake Effect is a storm picking up water over the Great Lakes, then dumping it on shore. When the lakes are frozen this is halted.

[B Calm]

7. Let me know when I can drive across Lake Michigan.

[marym625]

11. Haha!

Then it will be time to move

[Yo_Mama]

8. Ice coverage 20% greater than last year at this time

http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/compare_years/

[Myrina]

12. Coldest Feb in Indiana since 1885 ...

I wonder how the hell people here & further north didn't freeze to death back then?
Sure, houses had fireplaces and some had more 'advanced' heating systems but DAMN.
It's freezing fucking COLD in my 60 year old house with insulation, relatively new windows AND a newer furnace.

[B Calm]

13. I know I burned one hell of a lot of wood this winter. I live on the Indiana/Illinois state line

half way down the state of Indiana. Wood heat is the best in my opinion. My wife says it's warm to the bone heat.