That’s not Michigan

By gail in Science & Tech on May 3, 2008 at 8:31 am

frozen

Fantastic "frozen wave" photos like this one have circulated on the internet to illustrate the 2008 Michigan cold snap. The accompanying text says they were taken in Macinaw City on Lake Huron. The photos are real, says Snopes, but the text is a hoax. The photos are from Antarctica, Dumont d’Urville Station, not Michigan, and the wavelike effect is caused when ice is lifted up and exposed by glaciation, then sculpted by extreme winds. Photo credit: Tony Travouillon (2002).


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  1. fsmarch
    May 3rd, 2008 at 9:35 am

    Awesome pic, though!

  2. red
    May 3rd, 2008 at 10:26 am

    look how clear that ice is!

    (also, michigan? lawl)

  3. ted
    May 3rd, 2008 at 3:55 pm

    haha! Michigan.
    Sure.

  4. Thomas
    May 3rd, 2008 at 4:13 pm

    Michigan’s lakes do freeze. However, not that clear. Also, ferries run through the lakes year round…
    If you go to flickr and search Michigan, Lake Superior, Ice… you can find a few examples of frozen waves.
    My friends who attend Northern Michigan University said they have sledded down a few.

  5. Chris
    May 3rd, 2008 at 4:51 pm

    BTW, it’s Mackinac City not “Mackinaw” City.

  6. Divine
    May 4th, 2008 at 2:42 am

    I never seen this one. But, cool! I would have thought it’s a fake.

  7. the man
    May 4th, 2008 at 10:52 pm

    Michigan’s Great lakes Do NOT freeze Often and may not ever freeze again. Unless you are over 70 It may have not froze over in your lifetime.

    They didn’t freeze during the great winter of 1978 and in my Charlevoix county town in northern michigan we had an old man who was possibly the only person to drive a car from Michigan across lake Michigan to Wisconsin. He said he did it the very last year it ever froze which he said was 1935 and the car he drove was a Ford Model T.

    I heard the story in 1986 and don’t know if it’s true but he did have a Model T with the tank tracks and ski kit for snow travel and he would give rides to little kids at winter festivals.

  8. the man
    May 4th, 2008 at 10:54 pm

    I should amend this to say “may never freeze over SOLID FROM COAST TO COAST again.”


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