Drone footage captured a striking winter scene on December 15 as powerful waves crashed over an icy breakwall on Lake Michigan, revealing a rare and visually dramatic natural phenomenon known as pancake ice.

The footage shows circular slabs of ice floating across the lake’s surface while waves continue to roll in, colliding with frozen edges along the shoreline. Pancake ice forms when extremely cold temperatures cause the surface of a lake or ocean to begin freezing, while ongoing wave action breaks the forming ice into rounded chunks that collide and stack against one another.

This phenomenon is more commonly seen in polar oceans and is relatively rare on large freshwater lakes, making its appearance on Lake Michigan especially notable. The frigid conditions allowed the ice to spread rapidly, even as waves continued to surge, creating a contrast between motion and freeze that drew widespread attention.

Meteorologists note that sustained subfreezing temperatures combined with strong winds and wave activity are necessary for pancake ice to develop. While visually stunning, the icy conditions also pose hazards, as waves crashing over frozen structures can lead to slick surfaces and rapidly changing shoreline conditions.

The drone footage offers a unique perspective on the raw power of winter along the Great Lakes, highlighting both the beauty and the intensity of nature during extreme cold weather events.