Lake Erie is usually the first to freeze over because it is shallower than the other Great Lakes.
Published Feb 18, 2018Image of the Day Atmosphere Temperature Extremes Sea and Lake Ice
Nearly 90 percent of the lake was ice-covered on January 9, 2014.
Published Jan 15, 2014
A cool spring left several lakes in northern Minnesota covered in ice, weeks beyond the norm.
Published May 17, 2013
While most scientific and public attention goes to glaciers, lake and river ice have interesting stories to tell as well.
Published Jul 5, 2017
People and satellites keep an eye on when ice on the world’s deepest lake melts each year.
Published May 10, 2012
Ice cover surpassed 80 percent for the first time in 20 years.
Published Feb 21, 2014
A combination of winds and thawing ice created an ice shove on Dauphin Lake that damaged numerous homes.
Published May 15, 2013
The puzzling features are most easily seen from above, but they pose real risks at the surface.
Published Jan 30, 2020
Summer beachgoers and fishers have been getting a wintery surprise on Lake Superior.
Published Jun 12, 2014
Ice cover on the world’s largest freshwater lake remains significantly above average for mid-April.
Published Apr 24, 2014
Roughly the same size of Belgium, Canada’s Great Slave Lake runs nearly 2,000 feet deep.
Published May 24, 2019
In early January, ice covered most of the lake and prevented the formation of extensive lake-effect clouds.
Published Jan 10, 2018
Snow cover lingered in the Great Lakes region on February 16, 2008. Against the backdrop of snowy ground appear the deep blue waters of the Great Lakes and nearby water bodies. In this wintertime shot, the lakes are relatively ice-free, except for Lake Erie.
Published Feb 20, 2008
A strange circular area of thinned ice appears in this astronaut photo from late April 2009 of Lake Baikal in southern Siberia.
Published May 25, 2009
The eastern end of Lake Erie is clogged with ice that is pushed against the shoreline by the prevailing westerly wind. The ice collects in Lake Erie, and the Lake Erie-Niagara River Ice Boom prevents it from flowing down the Niagara River, which is the international boundary between the Canadian Province of Ontario, and New York State. A boom is deployed each December. Operational since 1964, the boom serves several functions: it protects the water intakes for the Niagara River power plants, and it minimizes ice runs (large blocks of ice flowing downstream as ice breaks up in the spring) and blockages that can create damage and flooding along the river.
Published May 21, 2007
A relatively rare blanket of ice rested on the surface of Lake Superior in early March 2009.
Published Mar 13, 2009
