The National Weather Service in Marquette, Michigan, has issued storm and gale warnings for portions of Lake Superior until 10 p.m. for Monday, Dec. 29. In Milwaukee, the Weather Service's office has issued a gale warning for Lake Michigan until midnight Monday.

Historical trend graphs indicate the Great Lakes normally experience a steady climb in ice coverage through January, accelerating in February and peaking in late February or early March. So far this season the curve is tracking below the long-term average. The current trend is still within the wide range of variability seen from year to year.

The cold front follows a system that barreled across the Midwest and parts of the Great Lakes with sharply colder air, strong winds and a mix of snow, ice and rain, leading to treacherous travel. Forecasters said it intensified quickly enough to meet the criteria of a bomb cyclone, a system that strengthens rapidly as pressure drops.

On the Great Lakes, waves build without warning and water churns with a cold, erratic energy. Waves are steep and packed close.

Yes. Though, it is rare for the entire lake system to freeze over, ice coverage can still reach 90% or more. According to GLERL's records, two lakes have frozen over completely: Lake Superior in 1973 and 1996; and Lake Erie in 1978, 1979 and 1996.

New Year’s Day celebrators may be in need of snow shovels in the Great Lakes for the first day of 2026 thanks to ongoing lake-effect snow bands throughout parts of the region. Feet of snowfall could be picked up in the snowbelts over the next few days,

A powerful storm tearing across the US could transform into a “bomb cyclone” over the Great Lakes and the Northeast right in time for New Year’s travel, forecasters warned.

In 1986, the Great Lakes population of piping plovers earned a distinction no species wants. These small shorebirds, which breed and spend their summers on the shores of the Great Lakes—primarily in Michigan—were listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Portions of the Great Lakes are ending 2025 on a snowy note as a week-long lake-effect snowstorm dumped feet of snow across the region with more to come in the new year.