"The waves are monstrous:" Crowds of curious onlookers along Lake Michigan

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- High winds made for a picturesque day of sorts along Lake Michigan's shore on Friday. Plenty of people had to check it out for themselves.

Along the shores of Lake Michigan, the wind quite literally howled, even the trees were talking about it.

"It's scary and that's what you want for Halloween," Timothy Callaghan, wave onlooker.

Winds whipped the water into shore so fiercely that it cascaded down to the street.

"The waves are monstrous," said Becky Deall, wave onlooker.

Plenty of others were battling the winds to capture the moment for their social media friends.

"I was at her house, we were getting ready for Halloween and somebody posted a video on Facebook and it showed the cars over there with the water going over it so I had to come down here and then I was like you guys got to see this," said Tori Johnson, wave onlooker.

Officials had to close the road around 1:30 p.m. Friday afternoon. But the barricades didn't stop the crowds of curious onlookers.

"It's pretty exciting actually to see everybody else coming down here I thought I was going to be the only one down here like a nerd," said Johnson.

The truly brave wandered right up to the edge.

"I was waving at the waves but eventually I got a little bit like I should walk because it was a little bit scary," said Callaghan.

Perhaps it's fitting that on Halloween day, mother nature herself provided a bit of a slightly scary, Hollywood-caliber entertainment.

"We might move to like a different part of the lake and see how it is there, I can do this all day long -- it's really cool," said Deall.

FOX6 News spoke with a few people who say they've lived right near the lake for years, and never seen the waves quite like they were today.