CLEVELAND — The brutal winter storm battering Ohio brought along a rare weather phenomenon for Lake Erie.

Wind blowing in from West to East has caused a seiche — where water lowers in one end of the lake and raises in the other, creating a standing wave that resembles water sloshing in a bathtub.

"In order to get a seiche, there needs to be a strong, long-lived wind at exactly the right wind direction," said Spectrum News 1 meteorologist Robyn King. "We typically have an active jet along with a deep low-pressure system set up just to the north of us."

"As a result, Toledo and Cleveland are seeing water empty as level drop off from the lake."

That water isn't gone for good, though.

"That big see-saw in water levels can only keep it up as long as the wind keeps blowing," said King. "Once the winds calm, then the lake water slushes back in the other direction, just not at the same magnitude."

King explains the phenomenon more in the video above.