Houghton Lake Shoreline Residents Withstand 10 ft Ice Shelf

Seemingly overnight, an almost 10 foot ice shelf appeared in the backyard of Frank Musielak’s home along the north shore of Houghton Lake on Monday morning.

“It probably goes 20ft beyond this here ice barrier to the lake, and the wind’s blowing it again, piling it up again,” said Musielak. “Hopefully the ice will thaw out real quick.”

About a dozen homes along the northern and southern shoreline are experiencing an ice shelf, which occurs when the temperatures get warmer and winds blow ice chunks up past the sea wall.

Musielak said this is the first time in 25 years he’s seen the ice shelf this tall by his home.

“Upstairs, you can see how far back it goes,” he said. “The house is 40 ft from the sea wall, but you can see how far the ice is to the water.”

Musielak said he started seeing the ice shelf form Sunday night during a rain storm.

He said the ice moved his 300 lb fire pit, and damaged his Waverunner hoist and paddle board bracket.

“Hopefully it just sinks back, but it’ll probably be here for a couple more weeks,” Musielak said.