MUSKEGON, MI— Lake Michigan was blasted with sub-zero Arctic air last week, causing the Lakeshore to rapidly transform into an icy wonderland. Ice cover expanded rapidly last week, reaching a short-term peak of 21 percent ice cover last Wednesday.

Seasonal snowfall is now above average for most of West Michigan and ice coverage has increased on the Great Lakes due to last week's arctic blast.

Ice coverage for all of the Great Lakes combined was 23.21% – the highest since February 26, 2022, when it was 56.1%. At the beginning of this month, ice coverage was less than 2% across all the lakes.