I spent a winter working in the Benton Harbor area about 10 years ago. It wasn't all that cold, but man do ya'll get the snow! One storm dropped over 3' in about 4-5 hours. We went from a bare parking lot at the hotel where I was staying to about waist deep snow in about 4 hours.....
I've seen the ice pushed up over parts of Lake Shore Drive, and old newspaper files show pictures of ice pushing up against buildings in downtown Chicago.
It's coming.