With temperatures 50 degrees below the freezing point of water, the shoreline of Lake Michigan has turned into an icy winter wonderland that kind of makes you forget how bitterly, miserably cold it is outside.

According to Tom Skilling, a longtime Chicago forecaster and WGN-TV’s chief meteorologist, Lake Michigan has never completely frozen over. But he thinks it is possible when severe, prolonged cold settles over the Midwest.

A record-shattering Arctic blast hit parts of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and beyond durning the polar vortex in January 2019. (The Washington Post)

Skilling reported that ice covered 90 to 95 percent of Lake Michigan in the winters of 1903-1904; 1976-1977; 1978-1979 and 2013-2014, according to data from the National Weather Service and Environment Canada. But there is no winter on record where the lake has frozen completely.

“Wave action and wind, combined with the vast reservoir of heat contained in the lake, have so far prevented complete freezing,” Skilling wrote in 2017. “Ice formation on Lake Michigan usually begins in January and reaches its peak in late February or early March.”

Extreme weather, like the polar vortex, is becoming more common as the Arctic continues to be disrupted by climate change. (Adriana Usero/The Washington Post)

On Wednesday, Skilling said describing this week’s weather as “brutal” was an understatement.

“Lake Michigan took on the appearance of a boiling cauldron as air of minus-20 degrees and colder made contact with water sitting just above the freezing level,” Skilling said in his report. “I’ve lived here 40 years and never until today have never seen a more spectacular display of ‘sea smoke.’ ”

The Arctic air will loosen its grip on the Midwest by Thursday afternoon; temperatures might even approach zero degrees in Chicago and Milwaukee. By the weekend, daytime temperatures will be above freezing across most of the Midwest.