by Dylan Stableford
The
polar vortex that has gripped the U.S. and Canada this week has led to
some spectacular icy images. The latest come from Niagara Falls, which
partially froze on Tuesday, when the high temperature was a record low
of minus 2 degrees.
Aaron Harris, a photographer for Reuters, took
several shots of the 167-foot falls on Wednesday. The ice formed on the
U.S. side of the falls, which straddle the border between the United
States and Canada.While unusual, it's not the first time Niagara Falls has frozen. Photographs from the early- and mid-1900s archived at the Niagara Falls Public Library appear to show frozen falls, though some experts have questioned their authenticity.
Of course, the eye-catching freeze did not completely stop the water from flowing.
According to EnvironmentalGraffiti.com, only once, in 1848, "has freezing weather caused the thousands of cubic feet of water per second flowing over the Niagara Falls to run dry, an event thought to have been caused by ice jamming and damming upriver."
According to forecasters, Tuesday's partial freeze should thaw later this week, when the temperature at Niagara Falls is expected to rise to 46 degrees.
While Harris' photos of the frozen falls are authentic, don't be fooled by some of the old images circulating on Twitter and Facebook.
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