Why large ice piles are forming on the Utah Lake shorelines
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- Ice piles at Utah Lake are pictured Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Vineyard.
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- Ice piles at Utah Lake are pictured Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Vineyard.
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- Ice piles at Utah Lake are pictured Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Vineyard.
It is not atypical to see ice build up along the Utah Lake shoreline during the winter months.
However, the spectacle currently seen along the beachfront on the north and east sides of the lake this year is particularly impressive.
Large ice piles filling the shorelines of areas like Vineyard Beach tower several feet high and look like they were pushed together by a snow plow. But these piles are naturally formed.
Several components are needed to create the phenomenon to such an extent, said Addy Valdez, a conservation biologist for the Utah Lake Authority, beginning with waves and warmer weather.
“It’s kind of the perfect environment for ice to form,” Valdez said. “Because (the lake is) shallow, and we still are getting winter weather, it gets a lot of wave action. So that just means the water is always turning and the wind is carrying water on the surface area of the lake and causing waves. So that’s what causes the ice stack. With these warmer temperatures, the ice is getting a little bit weaker, and wave action is getting stronger, so that it can actually break the ice now, and that’s what causes the ice to stack up as it pushes forward.”
Cooler temperatures at night, Valdez added, create more ice, which is pushed by more waves to the shore and grows the stack. She compared the cycle to how Utah roads crack during the winter.
“In the valley, it’s a really strong freeze and thaw cycle, because most of our average temperatures fluctuate between just below 32 degrees and just above 32 degrees,” she said. “So that’s why our roads are damaged so much, crack and crumble so much, because the ice or water is constantly freezing and thawing.”
Other factors that increased the ice piles this year were a cold start to the winter, which built a strong ice base for the lake, and high water levels on the lake.
“We get it almost every winter, but this year and even last year, it was a little bit more extreme because we have more water, so the lake is fuller, so it’s pushing up on the edges of the shoreline,” Valdez said. “It’s just able to penetrate farther inland because there’s more water, so that creates more stacking and it’s a larger surface area, so there’s just more ice to form.”
Most of the lake’s wind is pushing northeast, Valdez added, meaning the northeast corner of the lake has the most waves, leading to the ice piles.
She suggested checking out the northern shore between Inlet Park and North Lake Park, as well as Vineyard Beach, Utah Lake State Park and Lindon Marina, to see the largest ice stacks.
