Lake Michigan lighthouse turned into ice-sculpture by freezing waters

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It's hardly December and winter is already in full force in Midwestern America where a lighthouse on Lake Michigan was turned into a ice-sculpture this week by frigid temperatures.

Photographer Tom Gill captured the St Joseph North Pier on November 22, after the 35-foot-tall lighthouse was turned white by a thick sheet of ice due to a barrage of late fall storms on the Great Lake.

The catwalk connecting the lighthouse to the shore, originally constructed to protect workers from being washed away in the waves, was seen covered in dangerous human-sized icicles.

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The St Joseph North Pier on the shores of Lake Michigan has already frozen over. Local photographer Tom Gill says this is the earliest he has seen the lighthouse freeze over  

Gill photographed the pier and lighthouse on November 22, on a clear day when the structure was covered in a thick sheet of ice and icicles 

The 35-foot-tall lighthouse is located in St Joseph, Michigan on the southern shores of Lake Michigan 

The catwalk that connects the lighthouse to the shore, and was designed to protect workers from the fierce waves, was covered in  icicles some six-feet long

Gill regularly photographs the pier and lighthouse and watches weather reports closely to capture the pier on days when waves are high

Gill, who regularly photographs the lighthouse in stormy weather, says this is the earliest he has ever seen the pier freeze over. 

Just last month, he captured the lighthouse getting battered with round after round of 20-foot waves, which caused sprays nearly 50 feet high.

The larges waves are caused on the lake by high winds during fall and winter storms, and Gill told Weather.com that he tries to photograph the pier on days when the waves are forecast to be 10 feet or taller.  

'I often monitor The Weather Channel for forecasts looking for days where high winds are predicted,' he told Weather.com.

'Sometimes, the wind direction just isn't perfect and the waves don't crash or break into the pier of the lighthouses,' he added. 'One day, high winds weren't predicted to create large waves, but I was surprised when I arrived to see the churning waters.'  

While the weather makes for beautiful pictures, it also caused dangerous conditions on the lake. Just on Monday, two jet-skiers were rescued from the waters near the pier after falling after their watercraft. 

Emergency responders found the two jet-skiers in the water struggling to swim through 'very large violent waves' and brought them to shore, where they didn't require any additional medical attention.  

Just last month, he captured the lighthouse getting battered with round after round 20-foot waves , which caused sprays nearly 50 feet high.