How Cold Is It in Canada? Niagara Falls Has Frozen Over

The cold snap that's gripped the northeast in an icy, subzero chill has made it hard to roll down frozen car windows and navigate roads. Elsewhere, it's having a significantly more spectacular effect: The roaring cascade of water at Niagara Falls at the United States/Canada border has slowed and even come to a stop in some areas, having effectively frozen over.

CNN reports that extreme temperatures have arrested the famous waterfall in spots, creating a kind of winter wonderland that some observers have compared to the handiwork of Elsa in Disney's Frozen. Here's what a similar scene looked like in 2015:

And here's a look at footage captured in 2019:

While covered by a sheet of ice, the Falls are not frozen solid: The volume and force of water prevents that. In the 1960s, steel ice booms were added to prevent large blocks from forming farther up the river that could slow the water enough to cause freezing. Instead, it's the surface water and mist that ices over, creating an aesthetically intriguing appearance. If it gets cold enough, ice can form as the water falls, leading to a large deposit on the bottom that can grow to over 40 feet thick.

It's rare for the Falls to come to a complete halt, but before the advent of the ice booms, it was a possibility. On March 30, 1848, gale force winds pushed ice floes from Lake Erie to the mouth of the Niagara River, creating a natural dam and effectively turning off the rushing water. People began walking over the dry riverbed and collected resurfaced weapons from the War of 1812; others thought it was a sign of the end of the world. Niagara Falls has never experienced a near-total interruption since.

[h/t CNN]