JIM MCMAHON/MAPMAN®
Every year, a lighthouse on Lake Michigan transforms into what looks like an ice sculpture! How does it happen?
The wind blows lake water onto the lighthouse and the bridge leading up to it. In warm weather, this water drips down into the lake. But in winter, the air sometimes chills the water to 32°F (0°C). That’s water’s freezing point, the temperature at which it turns from a liquid to a solid. The water freezes onto the lighthouse, changing its state of matter.
Slowly, many layers of ice build up. When some of the ice warms and melts, it drips down and freezes again. That makes long, pointy icicles. Don’t walk under them!
The lighthouse won’t be icy forever. When the weather warms, the ice will melt. Then the lighthouse will be ice-free until next winter.