Drone Captures Dicey Moments On Frozen Lake Michigan

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A drone photographer accustomed to taking stunning video of the ice forming on Lake Michigan, was stunned by something much scarier over the weekend.

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As Nathan Voytovick was filming along the lake in Grand Haven, Michigan on Saturday, he saw an adult and two children out on the edge of the ice, dangerously to where waves were crashing, melting away the ice. At one point in the video a huge chunk of ice, right next to the trio, broke and crashed into the water below. Voytovick shared the video and photos from the scene on his Facebook page, with an urgent plea for people to stay off the ice. He pointed out that it’s hollow beneath the ice and with temperatures in the xxx on Saturday, the ice was melting.

Voytovick wrote that it was “hard to record” the video and that if someone fell “It’s almost certain death as you’d be slammed under the ice.” The expanse of ice cover on Lake Michigan varies from year to year, according to the National Oceanic And Atmospheric AdministrationDespite recent cold air blasts to push through the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan's ice coverage is still below average for this time of year with less than 7% of the lake currently covered compared to an average of approximately 16%, according to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Library. This time last year, Lake Michigan was 10% covered in ice.

W​hile no one appeared to get hurt in this incident filmed on January 18, The Michigan Department Of Natural Resources warns residents that there is no reliable “inch-thickness” to determine if the ice is safe. They also warn that ice formed by melted and refrozen snow is weak and will appear milky. The department also advises that the “stronger the current on the lake, the more likely the ice will give to open water.”

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