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!
MightyMac.org is the leading resource for Mackinac Bridge news & photos. On Monday shared this shot of the USCG Cutter Mackinaw passing under the Mackinac Bridge Saturday on its journey to Chicago with 1,200 Christmas trees for families in need aboard. The ship is scheduled to arrive today (Friday, December 5th) and if you’re in the Windy City, you can head over to the Chicago Christmas Ship for all the info on the ship, the Christmas tree distribution, and how you can support this cool project.
The 1868 peak in sail-powered ships on Lake Michigan also marked the year the 123-foot Rouse Simmons was launched from Milwaukee’s shipyards. The ship was built by the firm of Allan, McClelland, and Company, one of Milwaukee’s preeminent shipbuilding firms …In the early 1870s, the Rouse Simmons joined the sizeable shipping fleet of wealthy lumber magnate and philanthropist Charles H. Hackley of Muskegon, hauling loads of lumber for Hackley’s fleet from company mills to the various markets around the lake for roughly 20 years.
By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the popular German tradition of decorating an evergreen tree in the home was widely practiced, and it was not uncommon for a handful of lake schooners to make late-season runs from northern Michigan and Wisconsin loaded with thousands of Christmas trees for busy Chicago waterfront markets. Estimates of the number of Christmas schooners vary, but perhaps up to two dozen vessels in any season delivered evergreens to markets in Great Lakes states.
In Chicago, most vessels, including the Rouse Simmons, sold the trees directly from their berths along the Chicago River’s Clark Street docks. Electric lights were strung from the schooner’s bow to stern, and customers were invited to board the ship to choose their trees. In addition to selling Christmas trees, many boat operators, including Schuenemann, made and sold wreaths, garlands, and other holiday decorations. Barbara Schuenemann and her three daughters (Elsie is pictured above) helped make and sell these items as part of the family’s holiday trade.
You can read on for much more about Herman Schuenemann’s long career as “Captain Santa” which tragically came to an end on Friday, November 22, 1912 when the Rouse Simmons, heavily laden with 3,000–5,000 Christmas trees filling its hold & deck, left the dock at Thompson, Michigan looking “like a floating forest.” Sadly, the Rouse Simmons sailed into a powerful winter storm on the lake that sent her and several other ships including the South Shore, Three Sisters, and Two Brothers to the bottom of Lake Michigan.
Here’s a photo of Elsie Schuenemann at the helm of the Rouse Simmons along with one of the offloading in Chicago. Also be sure to check out a great video on the wreck of the Rouse Simmons by Richie Bravo.
I am thinking that a good way to help support the photographers who make Michigan in Pictures so cool is to feature their calendars & photos as potential holiday gifts. In a way, you are also supporting the protection of the beautiful places featured in these calendars by sharing that beauty with the people you love!
Neil has been a favorite photographer for a long time now for his excellent work as well as for his photography workshops like the upcoming Munising Winter Workshop that make great gifts as well! He says that you can get his 2026 Michigan Calendar while they last & is also offering 25% off all prints orders through this week with the code: HOLIDAY25 at NeilWeaverPhoto.com.
When I posted about the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald a couple weeks ago, a reader asked why I don’t share the other famous shipwrecks. I explained that although posts about the Fitz tend to be more shared, my vote for the most grievous loss on the Great Lakes has always been the S.S. Carl D Bradley, a 639-foot freighter that sank almost 70 years ago November 18, 1957. Here’s an article by Valerie van Heest (Seeking Michigan / the Archives of Michigan) that was featured on my Absolute Michigan website back in the day.
“A Deafening Thud”
Abandon ship! Abandon ship! The whistle squawked seven short blasts, then one long blast. It was a signal twenty-six year old deck watchman Frank Mays knew well, but never expected to hear. Just minutes earlier, he had been having a smoke with Gary Price in the dunnage room, deep in the bow, when they heard a deafening thud. “We hightailed it out of there to find out what had happened,” Mays recalls. “When I reached the upper deck, I looked aft and saw the stern flapping up and down like a dog’s tail.” The Carl D. Bradley‘s back had broken, and it would be only a matter of minutes before water filled the tunnels and cargo holds of the 639-foot vessel. It was 5:30 p.m. on November 18, 1958.
Final Voyage
The Bradley had departed Gary, Indiana the day prior, running in ballast in building southwest seas along Lake Michigan’s western shore. On the season’s final voyage, the veteran boat was scheduled to head to Manitowoc, Wisconsin for repairs during its winter lay-up. The rusting cargo had been due for an $800,000 replacement for over a year, but its owner, Bradley Transportation Company, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, pushed the work back until the end of the season. A radio call from headquarters ordering an additional stone delivery before lay-up proved to be the demise of the Bradley. Despite reports of gale-force winds and thirty-foot seas that compelled other freighter captains to take shelter along Wisconsin’s shore, Captain Roland Bryan, known as a “heavy weather man,” headed northeast across the lake from the Door County peninsula toward the Straits of Mackinac and back to Rogers City. At 5:35 p.m., the Bradley sank twelve miles southwest of Gull Island.
“The Worst Night of His Life”
Even today, survivor Mays recalls that horrific night with clarity. Hunkered down on the life raft just aft of the pilothouse, he trembled realizing the sinking beneath him. His eyes were drawn aft toward the flying sparks as the huge steel deck plates began to tear apart. In the growing darkness and mayhem, he could make out second mate John Fogelsonger running toward the stern and leaping over the break. Before his eyes, his friend disappeared as the Bradley ripped apart. The next thing Mays recalls was being pitched into the air, landing in the icy, angry water and then struggling onto the raft where he fought to hold on through the worst night of his life.
“A Painful Memory”
By morning, only Mays and first mate Elmer Fleming were alive. After fifteen bone-numbing hours in the icy waters, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Sundew rescued them. All thirty-three of their mates, including Gary Strelecki and Dennis Meredith, who shared the raft for most of the night, as well as two of Frank’s own cousins, perished. These men left behind twenty-five widows and fifty-four fatherless children. Considering twenty-three of the crew hailed from Rogers City, the home port of the Bradley, the loss personally affected nearly everyone in the small community. Fifty years later, the sinking is still a painful memory.
Today is the 55th birthday of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Normally, I would lead with a photo of the Dunes, but the creation of the National Lakeshore on October 21, 1970 preserved a whole lot more!!
Here is the tale of the tape on Michigan’s magnificent national lakeshore as of August 1, 2024!
Annual Visits – 1,589,248
Employees – 46 permanent, 83 seasonal
Volunteer Hours – 58,389 from 1,659 volunteers
Natural and Cultural Resources
Area – 71,318 acres
Lake Michigan Shoreline – 65 miles (35 miles on the mainland)
Inland Lakes – 26
Miles of rivers and streams – 12
Terrestrial plant species – 908
Bird species – 246
Federally threatened or endangered species – 6
Historic structures on List of Classified Structures – 369
Sites on National Register of Historic Places – 8
Cultural Landscapes – 9 (4,500 acres)
Prehistoric archeological sites – 150
Historic boats – 21
Lighthouse – 1
Historic artifacts – 70,158
Archived documents – 21,325
Infrastructure
Buildings – 370
Employee housing units – 38
Campgrounds – 9 (357 sites)
Picnic Areas – 5
Visitor Centers – 3
Outdoor ampitheaters – 2
Miles of roads – 23
Covered bridge – 1 (Pierce Stocking Drive)
Miles of trails – 105
Lake access ramps – 9
Signs and wayside exhibits – 3572
Major photovoltaic power systems – 3
Motor vehicles in fleet – 54
Large boats – 8
James took these in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore back in fall of 2023. See lots more great shots in his Top 100 gallery on Flickr!
Up until now, the interstellar comet had been brightening as expected. But now, the observations from mid-September 2025 are beginning to rise above the upward-sloping line of brightening that would have been typical for a comet nearing the sun.
(There has been a lot of talk that 3I/ATLAS might be an interstellar probe due to its great speed & a trajectory that takes it close to Jupiter, Mars & Earth before it slingshots away using the Sun’s gravitation.)
A team of scientists, led by Xabier Pérez-Couto of the University of A Coruña in Spain, has traced the path of interstellar object 3I/ATLAS back 10 million years. Indeed, this is only the 3rd-known object found traveling in our solar system that didn’t originate with our sun and its planets. Its trajectory tells us it must have come from another star system, but which one?
They traced the path back over 100 million astronomical units (9.3 quadrillion miles) but couldn’t find where it started towards Sol. You can read on for lots more!
Gary took these photos of the Northern Lights & Comet Neowise over Lake Michigan back in 2020. See more in his Night Skies gallery on Flickr and view & purchase Gary’s work on his website.
One of the reasons why most locations on Earth do not enjoy exactly 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of nighttime on the equinoxes is how sunrise and sunset are defined. If sunrise and sunset were defined as the moment the geometric center of the Sun passes the horizon, then the day and night would be exactly 12 hours long. But that is not the case. Sunrise and Sunset are defined as the exact moment the upper edge of the Sun’s disk touches the eastern and the western horizon, respectively. The time it takes for the Sun to fully set, which can be several minutes, makes the day just a bit longer than the night on the equinoxes.
The day with the same sunrise & sunset time is September 25th. The sun still does rise directly in the east & set directly in the west, so don’t forget to pack your sunglasses – a lot of our roads are laid out east/west making the sunrise and sunset around the equinox sun a positively blinding proposition!
Scott took this photo of the St Joseph Lighthouse on September 21, 2020. See more in his awesome Lighthouses gallery on Flickr & enjoy a selfie he took of the last summer sunset of 2014 below!
