(Josh McCausland / Unsplash)

First it delivered pancake ice, frozen discs that get their rounded shape from wave action knocking them into each other. Pancakes aren’t a new phenomenon, but they are highly photogenic, which has raised their social media profile.

Paddling for Pancake Ice with Simeon & Andrew Check out the follow up tweet for some top down looks. pic.twitter.com/Ltj7V5n1ST

— Craig Shimala (@cshimala) January 25, 2022

Now the lake is serving up ice balls.

The spheres, some big enough to qualify as ice boulders, recently washed up near Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan. Suddenly pancakes seemed overhyped.

Ice balls form when waves sculpt lake slush into orbs. As they roll, the spheres can gather even more slush and grow from softball to beach ball size, kind of like building a snowman, according to meteorologists.  

Thousands of them hit the beach near Saugatuck, Michigan, in February 2020, but that news got blown off the front page by the ice volcanoes that erupted along the same shoreline the same week. Repeat, ice volcanoes.

So what tricks does Lake Michigan still have up its sleeve? Well, there are ice shards and something called an ice shove. Stay tuned.      

Contact Patty Wetli: @pattywetli | (773) 509-5623 |  [email protected]