Chicago River Ice Transformation

Provided and copyright by: Chantel Bottoms
Summary authors & editors: Chantel Bottoms, Jim Foster

This series of pictures showing the freeze-up of the Chicago River was taken from my balcony in Chicago, Illinois. Beginning in mid January, the Mid West and much of the eastern U.S. experienced several consecutive weeks of bitter cold weather after an unusually mild start to the winter. Some of the coldest air of the season was ushered into the region in early February, keeping even the daytime temperatures well below freezing. The photo sequence above shows the Chicago River transitioning through various stages of freezing. The first frame shows the initial stages of freeze-up (February 1). Frame 2, taken on February 5, shows an almost completely frozen surface as the ice is rapidly congealing. Just one day later (Frame 3), the Chicago River is pictured after a snowstorm. The River was now completely frozen and covered with a thick layer of snow.

Related Links:

• River Ice Glossary
• Monitoring River Ice Conditions
• About Snow and Ice