Two years ago, after the polar vortex set the Upper Midwest into a deep freeze for a second straight winter, scientists thought the weather phenomenon could reverse a 15-year stretch of diminished lake levels and reduced ice cover in Lake Michigan.
At first, they appeared to be right. Ice coverage across the Great Lakes reached 92.5 percent in 2014, the highest on record since 1979. With the widespread ice coverage acting as a capstone for evaporation, Lake Michigan water levels rebounded 3 feet between 2013 and 2015, an unprecedented surge from record low lake levels in 2013.
But two consecutive mild winters marked by light ice coverage and retreating lake levels are giving researchers pause. Though Lake Michigan water levels are expected to stay above the historic average through the next six months, some experts say the significant abnormalities dating back to 1997-98 — when one of the strongest El Ninos ever was recorded — may indeed be the new normal.
An El Nino is an irregular climate pattern characterized by warming ocean and atmospheric temperature, and typically generates unseasonably warm conditions during the winter months across the U.S. The 1997-98 El Nino brought widespread drought to parts of North and Central America and record-breaking rainfall and flooding to places like the West Coast. Most recently, another strong El Nino was in effect in 2015-16.

Smoke on the water. It’s not just a song lyric — it was hovering over Lake Michigan this morning.
Called arctic sea smoke or sea fog, this phenomenon happens when a mass of very cold air (about 3 degrees at the Harrison-Dever Crib, approximately 2.75 miles offshore at 9 a.m. Thursday) blows over warmer water (35 degrees at the same location). It’s similar to what happens when a football player removes his helmet, and “smoke” appears above his head during a cold game.
This process is aided by wind, which was gusting over the lake near 30 mph Thursday morning. “Winds are out of the west, from the land to the lake, driving cold air out over Lake Michigan,” National Weather Service Chicago meteorologist Ricky Castro said. “If winds were calm, then the effect might not be as dramatic.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-lake-michigan-arctic-sea-smoke-htmlstory.html

Updated, thank you

As the winter ice began to thaw, the cool wind blew the crystalline ice sheet that subsequently formed onto shore, thus creating a magnificent sound that is unexpectedly found in nature. Dec. 21, 2015. (Jukin Media)</blockquote?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/jukinmedia-crystalline-ice-sheet-hit-20151218-premiumvideo.html

Ice coverage on Lake Superior, Huron and Erie is at 95 percent or more, and ice coverage on the Great Lakes was recorded at 88.8 percent Saturday, according to NOAA CoastWatch, which is a little more ice than at this time last year, WZZM reports.
All the ice has made for another unpredictable shipping season in the lower Great Lakes, with some ships requiring icebreaker assistance to make it through, the Observer reported.
Last year went on record as having the second-highest percentage of ice coverage on the Great Lakes since records began in the 1970s, topping out at 92.5 percent on March 6, the Weather Channel notes.
Ice on the lakes delayed the shipping season and kept ice breakers busy last year, which cost the economy more than $700 million and nearly 4,000 jobs, Lake Carriers’ Association said in January, and also forced vessel operators to spend an unexpected $6 million last spring to repair ice damage on their ships.

http://bringmethenews.com/2015/03/01/great-lakes-nearly-covered-in-ice-which-could-mean-another-delayed-shipping-season/

I saw pics of ice floating, in July, last year…

That’s when they needed to “fix” things…

The Siberian Express that’s imported northern Russia’s weather into North America is leading to a second year of fast-growing ice cover on the Great Lakes, setting up the Chicago area for the possibility of another cool spring.
By Wednesday, the Great Lakes were 85.4 percent ice-covered, just above the 85.2 percent on Feb. 18 last year, according to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. With below-average temperatures predicted for at least the next week, the lakes could approach last year’s levels of 92.5 percent ice cover, the second-highest level since records began in the early 1970s.

Ice is already starting to develop on Michigan’s Great Lakes. This is the earliest ice on some of the Great Lakes in at least 40 years.
According to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, on November 20, 2014, three of Michigan’s Great Lakes had ice starting to form. Lake Superior and Lake Michigan were one-half percent ice covered, while Lake Huron had one percent ice. Lake Erie was not reporting any ice as of Nov. 20, 2014.
Decent early season ice coverage records date back to 1973. Last Friday was the earliest date that all three Great Lakes already had ice since the better reporting of early season ice began.

http://www.mlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2014/11/great_lakes_ice_cover_developi.html