Can Niagara Falls completely freeze? Can the flow of mighty Niagara river come to a total halt in winters? Can one fulfill their fancy of walking across the frozen Niagara Falls? Many people, especially those who have seen these Falls, ask these questions.
Niagara Falls are located at the border of USA and Canada. Made by the falling waters of Niagara river -these falls are one of the most enchanting natural sites in the world. Niagara Falls are, in reality, a collection of three smaller falls (the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls). Most of the circulated images of these falls are those of the Canadian Falls because they are the biggest among three.
In this region of the world, the winters are long and extremely cold. This causes almost all the in-land water bodies to freeze. “Frozen Niagara Falls” is a sepia toned photograph that shows the Falls and claims it to be completely frozen. This photograph became world famous (or say Internet famous) after it began to circulate on Internet via emails. However, in emails, this photograph is misleadingly captioned. The email claims that the photograph was taken in 1911 and that the falls are completely frozen.
Though this photograph is authentic but the claim is wrong. It was only on March 29th 1848 that the water flow had came to an almost complete halt. At that time, only American Falls were frozen almost to trickle. The other two parts of the Niagara Falls were running as usual. People were able to walk over the ice and collect souvenirs from the river bed at unfrozen puddles. This occurred also because of formation of more ice than normal at the Lake Erie (origin of Niagara river).
Even now the Niagara Falls partially freeze when it is extreme winter. Authorities try their best to keep the Niagara Falls running because these falls are important source of hydroelectric power. In winters, ice cutters keep on working in the Niagara river to make sure the Falls don’t freeze. Earlier people used to walk on partially frozen Niagara Falls. But in 1912, three people died as the ice beneath their feet cracked. Since then walking anywhere on ice has been completely banned. With special permission, only certain adventurers are allowed to attempt climbing the ice on Niagara Falls.
So, the truth is that the Niagara falls do freeze when the winters are long enough but the water flow never stops completely. From these Falls 600,000 gallons water flows per second. You can imagine how cold it must be to even partially stop the Niagara falls.
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