Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Michigan in Pictures, and thankfully I realized that trying highlight the best of what is now 4,638 posts was a little crazy even for a dyed in wool webhead like me! Thank you all for being a part of this!! You can check out part one featuring 2005 through 2015. Now let’s get busy with the top pics for every year from 2016 through 2025!
2016: The Blizzard of ’78
Blizzard of ’78 – Somerset, MI by Bill
The Great Blizzard of 1978 featured over 30″ of snow in some places & around 100,000 cars abandoned on Michigan roadways!
2017: Crazy Times on Torch Lake
Crazy Times on Torch Lake by Drew Shaffer
Torch Lake is Michigan’s second largest inland lake & at 19 miles, our longest lake. In addition to being the top pic of 2017, Drew’s photo was featured in an excellent mLive profile of jaw dropping Michigan locations.
2018: Skyscraper Dunes
Pantheos put together an incredible list of 87 Michigan’s ‘skyscraper’ Coastal Dunes that he could verify at 100′ or more in height. He climbed a lot of them including the tallest: 526-foot Empire Bluff Dune in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
2019: Polar Vortex Ice Cave Hype Machine
Ice Cave Evening by Mark Miller
The Lake Michigan ice cave hype machine fired up again in January with the year’s most popular photo which was taken in March of 2014.
2020: Here Comes Comet Neowise!
Comet Neowise by Lake Superior Photo
2020 was a tumultuous year in many ways, but one (actual) bright spot we could all enjoy was Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) that Shawn captured so well in this July photo.
2021: Frozen Lake Michigan & the Mighty Mac
Frozen Lake Michigan & the Mighty Mac by Shelbydiamondstar Photography
MaryBeth’s photo of cracks in crystal clear ice with the mighty Mackinac Bridge was the top shot of 2021 with over a quarter of a million views here & on Facebook!
2022: Glowing Flying Squirrels are actually a thing!!
Southern Flying Squirrel Showing Biofluorescene by Lee Rentz
In 2022, Michigan in Pictures went on hiatus, but not before sharing Lee’s incredibly cool shot of a southern flying squirrel exhibiting biofluorescence which became the year’s most viewed photo.
2023: Taking a Break…
Sunrise Greilickville Harbor Park by Jeff Hudson
I took the whole year of 2023 off, and the “taking a break” photo by Jeff did the heavy lifting on letting folks know.
2024: Gordie Howe’s Last Girder
Gordie Howe’s Last Girder by photosbyjoeyd
Joey’s incredible drone shot of workers laying the last girder in place to connect the deck of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge to the Detroit Port of Entry was not only the most popular post in 2024 — with 2.9 MILLION views it also became the most popular post ever on Michigan in Pictures!
2025: Holiday Trail Rolls through Detroit
Holiday Train Rolling through Detroit by Craig Hensley Photography
Craig’s photo along with his information about how to see the CPKC Holiday Train when it passed through southeast Michigan was this year’s most popular photo. Even better, I know for a fact that his information along with updates shared by Montez Miller helped a ton of people see the train in 2025!
Michigan in Pictures 
I enjoyed these photos as well, especially the frozen pics. I remember well that Polar Vortex and seeing the huge waves frozen in time at the Detroit River at Bishop Park in Wyandotte. I was amazed how that looked and later, when the ice broke up, the huge shards of ice bobbing in the River or slamming up on the rocks at Elizabeth Park, was another stunning sight to see. I remember the Blizzard of 1978, my last year at Wayne State University and it was a welcome reprieve from classes. School snow days for adults! Happy New Year Andrew!
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Happy New Year to you too!! This is a shot of my mom on the ice in 2014. Glad I was able to take her for a field trip from her long term care to see this!
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Thanks for the photo Andrew. I’m glad you took your mom to see that snow and ice – it’s amazing to think she and others are just standing there, on top of the snow-packed ice and the snow banks in the background – wow! My photos were not impressive at all, compared to this. P.S. – I thought of you today as I saw an ad on Facebook for Rebel Nell for jewelry made from scrapings of the graffiti from Michigan Central Station. Actually I thought they preserved a lot of graffiti behind Plexiglass, but I’m sure some of it had to go. I know you mentioned going to Michigan Central Depot long before the restoration began, so I thought you might be interested.
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Here’s the site for the graffiti jewelry – I thought that was interesting. I knew they made jewelry from the old Detroit Zoo logo from the water tower, but didn’t know about this.
https://www.rebelnell.com/collections/michigan-central-station?srsltid=AfmBOooE_y6_5hYdIvW93txU5UhmnGalPV8TSJhK2VBH6QT5sGA1Z_2W
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Yeah they were pretty amazing! That jewelry is pretty neat too!
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