Credits: Social Media
Lake Erie looks like a ‘different planet’ as storm sparks crazy natural phenomenon
Everyone is talking about Lake Erie this week after a brutal storm caused a rare natural phenomenon that looks like something from outer space.
Located in North America on the Canadian border, Erie is one of the five Great Lakes at almost 10,000 square miles and 210 feet deep.
Rare phenomenon at Lake Erie
As the winter storm battered the North this week, intense 65mph winds pushed back the shallow water at Lake Erie, revealing parts of the bottom of the lake.
The extreme weather meant that a number of huge boulders near Port Clinton in Ottawa County were no longer covered by deep water.
These boulders are usually 6 to 9 feet under the lake’s surface, but the storm caused them to appear in a rare natural phenomenon.
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Local resident Barry Koehler took photos of the exposed rock and shared them on Facebook. One boulder protruding out of the water has a tree growing on top.
The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory has previously warned that strong winds were likely to cause major water level changes across the lake.
It looks like a ‘different planet’
Koehler told Fox 8 news that it felt like he was “walking on a different planet” – and the scene certainly does look like something from a sci-fi movie.
“It was so exciting to see Lake Erie like that, it was like exploring a whole new world,” he added before calling the rare sighting “thrilling”.
One of the images is particularly spectacular, with icicles trickling down the sides of the rock and a layer of white snow covering the ground.
The�phenomenon is called a seiche, which describes a standing wave in an enclosed body of water, and they’re often observed in lakes.
This occurs when an expanse of water has been disturbed by meteorological effects like wind, pressure variations or tsunamis.
Eventually, gravity will always restore the horizontal surface of the water, so the boulders will be under water again soon.
More Lake Erie storm pictures
The extreme cold temperatures and stormy conditions continue to create some incredible scenery across Lake Erie.
Here’s a picture one person shared on Twitter/X:
This video looks like something from a movie:
The sunrise on the ice looks beautiful:
If you’re also dealing with freezing temperatures this winter, here’s a plumber’s tip to prevent your pipes freezing that will save you.
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