Lake Michigan is covered in beautiful shards of ice and the pictures are stunning

A polar vortex brought chaos to the United States earlier this year, with parts of the country dropping to below-freezing temperatures. Temperatures dropped as low as -40C in some areas, with some states even becoming colder than Antarctica.

In Chicago, the temperature reached -30C during the peak of the cold front, and locals were warned not to breathe deeply when outside. By late January, over 56 per cent of Lake Michigan was completely frozen over - leading many social media users to share their stunning photos of the lake.

In some instances, steam fog was spotted rising from the lake. This phenomenon comes from when the water temperature is higher than the air temperature, causing what is referred to as a 'boiling cauldron' effect.

Now, there is yet another strange phenomenon that has emerged from Lake Michigan as a result of the cold weather. Now that we're entering Spring, ice shards are beginning to pile up on top of one another.

These ice shelves were formed during the winter as hills formed, from waves crashing over existing ice piles. The recent thawing has resulted in sheets of ice breaking, leading to shards of ice being pushed to the surface.

Initially reported by MLive.com (where you can see even more images), there have been some stunning photos taken of this new phenomenon, which is visible along South Haven's pier.

The US Coast Guard has warned that this sight should only be viewed from far away, as it is still dangerous to stand on the unstable ice.

“No ice is safe ice especially this time of year,” Grant Heffner told MLive.com. “The ice is certainly deteriorating and breaking up."

Hopefully we get even more beautiful photos before the lake completely thaws!