Robin shared these otherworldly shots of the ice caves on Empire Beach in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore earlier this week. Click the pics to see them bigger & follow her on Instagram for more!
As with any time we share photos of ice caves, we need to caution you that you can 100% lose your life exploring ice caves. Be smart.
It can be dangerous because you might think you’re walking on solid ground, when actually you’re out over the water. Due to the layered nature of shelf ice, even if you’re out over four feet of water, if you were to fall through a thin spot in the ice, you could find yourself trapped in an ice cavern and even though you may not be fully submerged in the water, you’re unable to get out because the walls of the cavern are ice and impossible to climb.
Preparedness for all kinds of emergency situations is vitally important for first responders. While the fantastic forms wrought by wind & water draw folks onto Great Lakes ice, they also risk creating nightmare scenarios for rescue. South Haven Area Emergency Services shared these photos from the other day when several staff donned cold water suits and ventured into frigid Lake Michigan and onto the ice formations along the shoreline to practice rescue techniques.
Here’s a few more photos from the training and another from an actual rescue of a person fell who while on the Lake Michigan ice shelf approximately 100 yards offshore! Follow them on Facebook for the latest.
Like many businesses & individuals across the nation, Michigan in Pictures will be participating in the nationwide Ice Out of Everywhere general strike on Friday, January 30th. The protest calls on Americans who believe that the Administration’s immigration enforcement campaign is violating our Constitution and national fabric to voice their displeasure with a nationwide day of no school, no work and no shopping.
You of course are free to do whatever you want, but if this post offends you, trust that I will almost certainly offend you again.
No post Friday – stay safe & see you next week everyone!
These photos of the St. Joseph North Pier Outer Lighthouse on Lake Michigan taken just four days apart provide a dramatic example of how fast cold weather & high winds can build ice! For sure follow Michigan Native Photography on Facebook for their latest & more great Michigan photos.
“The most extensive and very nearly the most severe blizzard in Michigan history raged throughout Thursday January 26, 1978 and into part of Friday January 27. About 20 people died as a direct or indirect result of the storm, most due to heart attacks or traffic accidents. At least one person died of exposure in a stranded automobile. Many were hospitalized for exposure, mostly from homes that lost power and heat. About 100,000 cars were abandoned on Michigan highways, most of them in the southeast part of the state.” -National Weather Service Ann Arbor Meteorologist in Charge, C.R. Snider on January 30th, 1978
48 years ago one of the most powerful blizzards in Michigan history brought the state to a standstill. In her feature on historical Michigan snow days in the now defunct Seeking Michigan, Jessica Miller of the Archives of Michigan related:
On January 26-27, 1978, snowstorms with fifty-to-seventy-mile per hour winds pummeled much of Michigan. Snowfall totals ranged from eighteen inches in Lansing to an incredible fifty-one inches in Traverse City. More than 100,000 cars were abandoned on roads and highways, and travel was impossible for days. Governor William G. Milliken declared a state of emergency on January 26 (See the image below.) and activated the National Guard to assist with the cleanup. The governor also requested financial assistance from the federal government and estimated damage totals to be more than $25 million, not including lost productivity from workers who were unable to get to their jobs.
Regarding the photo, John wrote: Marty Lagina stands on the frozen pier at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy on January 29, 1978, viewing the capsized training vessel Allegheny, which capsized from ice buildup during the Blizzard of ’78. This image was on assignment for TIME magazine, who had seen my b&w image on the UPI wire and wanted a color image. Marty and I were lucky – the sky cleared and the wind stopped for about 20 minutes, then the storm began again. I wondered at the time who TIME knew to make that happen…
The only places not under an Extreme Cold Warning are the Southeast corner of the state – from Saginaw and The Thumb down to Flint, Ann Arbor and Detroit, as well as the Lansing and Jackson area along the southern rim of Michigan. Those southern and eastern spots are under a Cold Weather Advisory, as the cold is not expected to be quite as severe there.
The Extreme Cold Warning now covers the Upper Peninsula – where wind chills could plummet to -45 degrees over the next couple of days – and all of Northern Michigan and West Michigan. This extreme warning covers Grand Rapids, Holland, Muskegon, Traverse City, Gaylord and the Tip of the Mitt, too.
That’s a big yikes from me! Brian took this when we were deep in the polar vortex of January of 2019 from the South Pier in Grand Haven. See his latest on Flickr and STAY WARM!
PS: If you want to tune into the current scene in Grand Haven, check out the Grand Haven South Pier Cam!
It’s very rare that we have aurora alerts at the G4 storm level and rarer still that they disappoint so northern lights aficionados were pretty excited about the kP8/G4 Aurora Alert was issued for last night. While hopes were high & some good shots were taken, the actual output was surprisingly muted & short-lived. Our friends at EarthSky explain that this was due to the arrangement of the CME’s magnetic field limiting how much energy actually reached Earth’s atmosphere & shaping which regions saw auroras and which did not.
During the CME’s initial impact phase, the Bz briefly dipped strongly southward. So that allowed solar wind energy to flow efficiently into Earth’s magnetic field. This short-lived interaction quickly caused G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm levels, with Kp (another measure of Earth’s magnetic disturbance) exceeding 8.
Soon after the initial impact, the character of the severe geomagnetic storm changed dramatically. As Earth moved deeper into the core of the CME, the Bz – again, the orientation of the sun’s magnetic field – turned strongly northward. This sustained northward orientation sharply limited the transfer of transfer into Earth’s magnetosphere. And that was what restricted the auroras, despite the overall strength of the storm.
Jeff took this photo from Elberta Pier back in November of 2025 on a night the lights definitely did not disappoint! Follow Watermark Photography on Facebook and see more great shots in the A Little Night Music gallery on his website.
mLive shares that although Lake Michigan will still help “warm” lower Michigan this week, it will still be dangerously cold. The coldest air will come around the south end of Lake Michigan and plunge wind chills for southern Michigan into the -25 to -35 degree range Monday into Tuesday morning & it’s not much better for the rest of the state!
Detroit, Ann Arbor and Southeast Michigan: Sub-zero wind chills on Monday and Tuesday, falling as low as -15 degrees.
West Michigan: Monday and Tuesday’s wind chills could hit -20 degrees.
Northern Michigan: Wind chills could fall to -25 by Tuesday morning.
Upper Peninsula: “High confidence (>75%) for wind chills near or below -25F Monday morning and Tuesday morning for most of the U.P.,” the National Weather Service in Marquette said.“ Cold Weather Advisory for northern Houghton and Keweenaw Counties Monday morning.”
Andrew got these photos of freezing fog & spray turning the M/V John J. Boland into a floating icebox on Lake Michigan as she headed towards Indiana back in December. Follow him on Facebook and for sure visit his website for photos and information about his drone photography services!
Point Betsie Lighthouse on Lake Michigan just north of Frankfort is one of the most photographed lighthouses in Michigan, but it’s definitely an “ice cleats mandatory” location this time of year! If this view looks good to you, consider supporting the renovation of this iconic lighthouse on with a stay in the Keepers Quarters.
Jeff shares that Wednesday evening was his first time in a while seeing clear skies and sunset, and the ice sculptures made by the wind and breaking waves did not disappoint! There’s a couple more pics below. See (and purchase) this photo & others in the Winter Wonderland gallery on his website, and for sure follow Watermark Photography on Facebook for his latest.
I would be completely remiss in my features of 2026 Michigan photo calendars if I left out one of Michigan in Pictures’ most enduring supporters, John McCormick of Michigan Nut Photography! His 2026 Michigan Wall Calendar is made right here in Michigan and features some dynamite photos from all over the Great Lakes State. He’s got all kinds of other photo-based gifts so head over to michigannutphotography.com today & make the Michigan lover on your list happy!
Michigan in Pictures 