Satellite images captured a massive ice crack of over 128 km (80 miles) in length forming over Lake Erie on February 8, 2026, after it nearly froze over for the first time in two decades.
Heavy snow and strong winds continue across the Great Lakes and Northeast U.S. on January 19, 2026, with winter storm warnings and advisories in effect across the region. Snow accumulations are forecast to reach 15–-35 cm (6–14 inches) in Michigan and up to 120 cm (4 feet) in parts of northern New York.
Winter Storm Ezra is forecast to bring severe winter weather across large parts of the United States from Sunday through Tuesday, December 28–30, 2025, as it moves from the Great Lakes into southern Canada. Heavy snow, blizzard conditions, and hazardous icing are forecast across the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and interior Northeast. Snowfall totals of over 30 cm (1 foot) are expected in parts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, while ice accumulations of up to 13 mm (0.5 inches) are forecast across interior New England through Tuesday.
Heavy lake-effect snow is forecast across the eastern Great Lakes region from early Thursday, November 27, through Saturday, November 29, 2025. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued Lake Effect Snow Warnings for areas in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, with totals reaching up to 50 cm (20 inches) in the most persistent snow bands.
A strengthening storm is forecast to move from the northern Plains into the Upper Great Lakes Tuesday through Thursday, November 25–27, 2025, producing lake-effect snow and strong winds across portions of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes. The severe winter weather will create hazardous travel conditions across northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, with lake-effect snow continuing into Thanksgiving Day.
A multi-day lake-effect rain event is forecast to unfold over the Great Lakes starting Thursday, October 23, 2025. The event is forecast to drop 25 – 50 mm (1 – 2 inches) of rainfall along the I-90 corridor between Buffalo, New York, and Cleveland, Ohio, through the weekend.
At least 23 waterspouts were reported over western Lake Erie on September 7, 2025, with an additional four observed in surrounding areas, for a total of 27.
More than 25 waterspouts were observed over the Great Lakes between August 23 and 24, 2025. More water spouts are expected over the lakes through August 26.
Nearly 40 million people from Texas to Michigan are under threat of severe weather as an amplifying trough begins affecting the central United States on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. The system is forecast to bring strong thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, and damaging winds, with the associated cold front expected to dominate weather conditions through Saturday, April 19, from the Southern Plains to the Great Lakes.
Two winter storms are set to sweep across the U.S. Midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast starting February 5, 2025, impacting millions with power outages and treacherous icy roads, prompting several Ice Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Warnings.
