As Chicagoans cozied up inside to avoid the bitter cold, puffs of vapor settled over the surface of Lake Michigan making it look like a steamy caldron of soup. Days later, the sun poked out illuminating a thin, sparkling layer of ice along the shoreline. A historically warm beginning to winter followed by a plunge in temperatures last week likely created this curious phenomenon, then rapid .
Bitter cold has settled over Southeastern Wisconsin and much of the country this week. Wind chills have been below 0 degrees and Milwaukee’s airport since 9 p.m. Saturday.