{"id":5856,"date":"2026-02-13T11:58:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/?p=5856"},"modified":"2026-03-18T07:11:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T13:11:20","slug":"fractured-ice-lake-erie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/2026\/02\/13\/fractured-ice-lake-erie\/","title":{"rendered":"Fractured Ice: Lake Erie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fox8.com\/news\/see-it-from-space-massive-crack-on-lake-eries-ice\/\">A significant chunk of ice fractured across Lake Erie last weekend<\/a>, where an 80+ mile long crevice was seen from space, and nearly stretched from Ontario, Canada, to Cleveland, OH. A social media &#8211; drone video (below) captures the fractured ice along Lake Erie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83e\uddcaCRACKING UP: Drone video captured an 80-mile-long crack that developed on frozen Lake Erie earlier this week, which was visible from space. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/udZoE5i8so\">pic.twitter.com\/udZoE5i8so<\/a><\/p>&mdash; FOX Weather (@foxweather) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/foxweather\/status\/2021328324140974586?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 10, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Per NOAA&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.glerl.noaa.gov\/data\/ice\/#currentConditions\">Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL)<\/a>, ice coverage over Lake Erie was hovering around 95% during early February 2026. Refer to the GLERL graphic that highlights this winter season&#8217;s above average ice coverage and how it compares to its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.glerl.noaa.gov\/data\/ice\/spaghetti\/eri_ice_compare.png\">historical average<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1012\" height=\"570\" src=\"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-13-103042.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5901\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-13-103042.png 1012w, https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-13-103042-300x169.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1012px) 100vw, 1012px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using the high refresh rate from the GOES-19 ABI GeoColor, one can see the rapid development of the ice cracking in the middle of Lake Erie on 8 February 2026. The elongated fracture exhibits a northeast to southwest orientation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>GOES -19 ABI GeoColor from ~14-18Z, 8 February 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"734\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1316 \/ 734;\" width=\"1316\" controls src=\"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/02\/Untitled-Project-1.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Polar-orbiting satellites also captured the event, where the VIIRS visible (375-m) multi-day animation shows multiple cracks along Lake Erie through 10 February 2026. The lake ice shifts northwestward over the time period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>VIIRS Visible (I-1), 0.64 um,  daytime overpasses from 7-10 February 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"734\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 948 \/ 734;\" width=\"948\" controls src=\"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/02\/Untitled-Project-visible.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the last quarter phase of the lunar cycle, nighttime visible imagery observed the reflected moonlight off the lake ice. A VIIRS NCC image comparison shows a before (8 February 2026) and after (9 February 2026) the lake ice started to break up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>VIIRS Near-Constant-Contrast (NCC) nighttime overpasses from 8-9 February 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"1066\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1066;\" width=\"1920\" controls src=\"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/02\/Untitled-Project-2.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As NWS WFO Cleveland stated below, these type of situations can endanger the general public (e.g., people left stranded on moving ice sheets, ice jams that lead to flooding) and marine vessels that traverse along Lake Erie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Mild temperatures and offshore winds may cause ice to push away from the Lake Erie shoreline today. Satellite imagery shows that cracks have already recently opened in the ice. Anyone caught on the ice if it breaks away would become stranded. Stay off the ice today! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OHwx?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#OHwx<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PAwx?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PAwx<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VTwfSIAmio\">pic.twitter.com\/VTwfSIAmio<\/a><\/p>&mdash; NWS Cleveland (@NWSCLE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NWSCLE\/status\/2021159793365241953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 10, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A significant chunk of ice fractured across Lake Erie last weekend, where an 80+ mile long crevice was seen from space, and nearly stretched from Ontario, Canada, to Cleveland, OH. A social media &#8211; drone video (below) captures the fractured ice along Lake Erie. Per NOAA&#8217;s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), ice coverage over <a href=\"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/2026\/02\/13\/fractured-ice-lake-erie\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5856"}],"version-history":[{"count":58,"href":"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6333,"href":"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5856\/revisions\/6333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/visit-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}