On or Near Lake Michigan You May See a Mirage

If you thought a mirage was something you only see in a Looney Tunes cartoon, it's possible you may see one this week if you are near Lake Michigan.

This week heats up a little more each day and with that the conditions are good for seeing things out in the water that are not really there. No your edibles didn't get better or somehow your adult beverage's alcohol content didn't just rise, yes real mirages in the distance over the water.

Mirages will typically appear upside down and above the horizon. These may look like ships or buildings and you certainly don't have the eye sight to carry across to Illinois or Wisconsin eagle eye.

The perfect conditions are needed for these mirages, you need heat and little to no wind for these to pop up. This week falls into both of those categories.

According to WOOD, these mirages are caused by the temperature of the air, influencing the density and therefore its index of refraction. Wow, that was kind of high tech there but basically warm air moving above cold air that is over the lake surface makes the mirages appear.

When you get a heat surge earlier in the summer, water takes a bit longer to heat up so you get these variances in temperatures close together and that is when they create shapes and figures...heck you might even see a mermaid. Not.

You may want to have your camera phone ready or maybe a better camera and you just may catch what you think is a ghost ship or a skyscraper that looks like you are looking at Chicago.

So if you see a mirage this week, you are not losing your mind, it's just a natural thanks to mother nature when the conditions are just right.