Yay for scientists! And I’m surprising myself to write this, but I’m appreciating the polar vortex. In other Daily Buckets I’ve written in the past, I’ve delved into why lake ice is so important to the health of the Great Lakes. For one, it minimizes evaporation and keeps water levels up. For another, it slows the long term trend of warming water temps, which keeps the water column healthy, which keeps water life healthy. Prolonged cold also kills off invasive species. So even though I’m getting cabin fever from not going out as often as I’d like, I’m happy to see this formation of lake ice. Hopefully it will stick around for a while and not just melt off in an early winter thaw.
Here’s a short summary of the importance of lake ice from the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, at NOAA:
Understanding the major effect of ice on the Great Lakes is crucial because it impacts a range of societal benefits provided by the lakes, from hydropower generation to commercial shipping to the fishing industry. The amount of ice cover varies from year to year, as well as how long it remains on the lakes. Studying, monitoring, and predicting ice coverage on the Great Lakes plays an important role in determining regional weather patterns, lake water levels, water movement patterns, water temperature structure, and spring plankton blooms.
There’s a ton of information at the U.S. National Ice Center’s website (home page here), including the 2025/26 winter forecast; a detailed trend graph for 2020 to-date; ice charts with supporting data; and more cool maps of snow and ice cover around the world. The National Ice Center also tracks Arctic, Antarctic and Mid-Atlantic ice cover.
This graph from NOAA displays the yearly Great Lakes ice cover going back to 1973, with the average in red and the 2025/26 winter in black. I’m not sure why the current year’s ice cover took a downturn in the past week. Bigger
I checked yesterday (Sunday) and found the graph from three days later had an uptick:
Ice cover graph dated January 31, 2026. Bigger
My favorite chart is the four panel, which shows concentration (upper left); thickness (upper right); both together (lower right and the title image), and last year’s total (lower left).
The four panel, as of January 27, 2026. Bigger
For comparison, here’s the most recent four panel, as of February 1, 2026:
The roads were in good shape last Wednesday and Friday, so I did a quick tour of a couple places to see what the ice looked like in my tiny corner of the Great Lakes. I live just outside Detroit and often visit parks from southern Lake Huron to western Lake Erie. With temps in the single digits and windchill below zero, I made a very truncated road trip to Port Huron Friday and on Wednesday, from the west side of Lake St. Clair (the small heart-shaped lake just east of Detroit) to a couple points on the Detroit River, which runs from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie. I’ll start to the north at Port Huron and work my way south.
There was a sizeable swath of open water at the end of Lake Huron as it narrows (and picks up speed) at the Blue Water Bridge and the start of the St. Clair River. Looking north and east, it was all ice.
Lake Huron, looking towards Canada. The Blue Water Bridge and the St. Clair River are to the right. There were lots of Long-tailed Ducks working the open water.
I followed the St. Clair River south for a few miles. It was mostly ice covered, not moving on the surface, and with narrow slices of open water. One of my favorite spots to check is at a marina where the Black River empties into the St. Clair. Sometimes there’s open water. Friday there was one tiny pool of water amid the ice. It held a mini-flock of ducks who were alternately diving and chasing each other.
These were the only ducks close to shore for both days. The Common Goldeneyes were especially frisky. The Red-breasted Merganser hen was trying to stay out of the way. The Long-tailed Duck drakes were just chill. I lucked out Friday with some sunshine. Bigger
The few miles I drove along the river looked like this, with varying degrees of open water. That’s Ontario, Canada in the background.
A close up of ice piled up along the shore of the St. Clair River.
Moving about 40 miles south, I visited Lake St. Clair on Wednesday. The cloud cover made for a much drearier day.
Lake St. Clair at the metropark. It was frozen as far as I could see. Those tiny black spots out on the ice are fishing shanties. Check them out.
Lake St. Clair is fairly shallow, so freezes over quickly. The ice was “fast ice,” which doesn’t mean it’s moving fast. Instead, it’s anchored, or fastened, to the shore and not moving. If you enlarge the four panel, you can see the fast ice is marked in grey and includes all of Lake St. Clair and most of the Detroit River.
Just to the north of the metropark is a boat launch where the Clinton River empties into Lake St. Clair. Usually there is open water here but I found very little. There was a sliver of ice-free water, which was where the ducks and swans were congregating. Here, a flock of Canvasbacks comes in for a landing. Bigger.
Where there are ducks, Bald Eagles aren’t far away. Here, a mated pair was at the far end of the open water. It looked like they had a Common Merganser for lunch. Bigger.
Next stop was at Belle Isle in the middle of the Detroit River. I used to work in downtown Detroit with a view of the river. I rarely saw it frozen all the way across. It was close to that on Wednesday. Even the shipping channel on the Windsor, Ontario side had only thin lenses of open water on the far shore.
MacArthur Bridge at Belle Isle in the Detroit River. Belle Isle splits the river. This is the north channel on the Detroit side. There were narrow slices of open water in the background, with the rest of the river covered in fast ice.
Looking downriver (southwest) with the Ambassador Bridge in the background. That’s a freighter sitting in the river but it wasn’t moving. The shipping channel was all ice. Bigger
My last stop was a place that’s usually good for closeup looks at winter ducks. Unfortunately, the ducks were almost all on the Canadian side.
The Detroit River at Dingell Park. This view is looking upriver. There were Canada Geese and Mute Swans tucked in at the edge of the ice, with a few Canvasbacks, Mergansers and Goldeneyes working the open water.
Ducks bring the Bald Eagles. That black line in the bottom of the frame is a raft of ducks in the sliver of open water on the Canadian side. Bigger.
Here’s a link to a recent article about how fast the Great Lakes are freezing this year. The satellite title photo alone is worth the click.
I’ll close with this group of Northern Cardinals (with a couple sparrows) at Belle Isle Nature Center to show that winter landscapes aren’t totally without color.
That’s it for the lake ice report. Now it’s your turn. What’s winter like in your neck of the woods?
THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS.
