Is Niagara Falls Cooler When It’s Frozen?

Photo by Elvir K on Unsplash

Niagara Falls is the biggest waterfall in North America and one of the most impressive in the world. It is 167 feet tall, and has 3,160 tons of water flowing per second! This impressive piece of nature attracts 12 million visitors a year from both the American and the Canadian sides.

Once in a while, when there is an extreme cold spell for multiple days in a row, the falls can freeze. This creates an incredible, rare opportunity to see 167 feet of ice and steam.

While the falls and the river below have only completely frozen once (March 29, 1848), there have been multiple times where the falls partially freeze. This happens when the top of the river turns to ice, while the water below it continues flowing, creating an “ice bridge.” This causes huge chunks of the waterfall to freeze and makes steam rise up as well.

Most recently this has happened in 2014, 2017, and last winter in January 2019. Much fewer tourists come in the winter, so if the opportunity ever arises, frozen Niagara Falls is quite a natural phenomenon to see!