MUSKEGON, Mich. — We’ve all the seen the damage that Mother Nature can do when she whips up strong to severe storms, blizzards, gales on Lake Michigan, or an early season killing frost. A perfect example was last Sunday with severe storms and 60 to 75 mph winds and a few isolated tornadoes across West Michigan. But how about the beauty she can produce?
The attached photo was submitted by FOX 17 regular contributor Bill Beatty of Muskegon taken at Muskegon State Park. He actually shot some beautiful photos of some of the snow drifts at/on the beach, but also managed to grab one of an unusual sand formation fashioned strictly by the wind and hand of Mother Nature.
We had mainly northwest winds on Saturday and Saturday night, then they began to turn westerly and come onshore Sunday morning. They weren’t particularly strong, but without anything to stop the winds from coming across the smooth surface of Lake Michigan (i.e. no friction caused by buildings or trees), the wind was able to sculpt a figure or shape out of the sand. It almost looks to be some type of sand bridge.
While it’s not uncommon to see sand strewn across the road and wind whipped from place to place, it’s neat to see the wind sculpt a figure or shape with the gentle hand required to do so. That said, the November gales will certainly be blowing much harder on Monday from the southwest at about 15 to 25 mph, with gusts higher than that. In addition, accumulating snow is likely (about 1″ to 3″) as a low pressure area and cold front sweep in to the Great Lakes.
Get the complete West Michigan forecast, including satellite, radar, temperatures, and our 7-day at http://www.fox17online.com/weather.
