Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) images from June 1998 show a surprising early summer phytoplankton bloom in southern Lake Michigan that accounted for approximately 25% of the lake's annual gross offshore algal primary production. By combining the satellite imagery with in situ measurements of water temperature and wind velocity we show that the bloom was triggered by a brief wind event that was sufficient to cause substantial vertical mixing even though the lake was already stratified. We conclude that episodic events can have significant effects on the biological state of large lakes and should be included in biogeochemical process models.