Large ice crack on Lake Erie seen from space

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A large crack in the ice across Lake Erie was seen forming on satellite through the day on Sunday. While ice cracks happen all the time, it’s not often you’ll see a large one across the lake! 

It’s likely related to several factors including the strong northerly winds on Saturday pushing the ice south. This may have led to pressure building up and some weakening of the ice. With ample sunshine and a northeasterly wind across the lake today, further weakening of the ice may have occurred leading to the eventual cracking. Through the day, the crack quickly expanded and widened and eventually stretched more than 80 miles from near Port Burwell in Canada to the Cleveland metro.

This serves as a good reminder that ice is never 100% safe. Even if the ice is thick, there can still be some thin spots, or weakening of the ice, leading to cracking. With warmer temperatures in the forecast and most days featuring high temperatures near or above freezing, we’re likely to see more melting and ice cracking on lakes across Ohio. Temperatures are expected to remain mild through the end of February.

— Meteorologist Aaron White

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