Photos

This blue blanket was laid down over the southern shores of Lake Michigan by a lake effect storm in early February. Within a half day, twelve inches of snow blew in from off the water. When the snow stopped falling, it revealed a smooth softly glowing landscape. Much was hidden: the lake itself, for one. The tree on the right side of the photo is the last one until you reach the opposite shore in Wisconsin.

The Great Lakes produce billions of tons of lake effect precipitation each year. The effect is like water sloshing out of a tub. Although some of it escapes into neighboring watersheds, much of it ends up running back into its source.

Stop 7, Michigan City, Indiana, February 4th, 2009