Niagara Falls transformed into living ice sculpture amid sub-zero temperatures
Sub-zero temperatures recently transformed Niagara Falls into a partially frozen winterscape. Tourists flocked to the iconic waterfall, which froze following a once-in-a-generation winter storm responsible for the deaths of 34 people in the state of New York.
The state has been held in the icy grip of the storm since Christmas Eve, when temperatures plummeted, bringing snow and leaving countless homes without power during the Christmas period.
25 miles north of Buffalo, where winter Storm Elliot killed at least 31 people, frozen mist and sheets of ice turned Niagara Falls, a world-famous tourist destination, into a gigantic living ice sculpture. Aerial photographs have immortalised this rare phenomenon.
Forged during the last Ice Age, Niagara Falls rarely stops flowing, even in freezing temperatures. This is due to its strong current, which pushes 3,160 tonnes of water over its soaring precipice every second.
Though it is almost impossible for the waterfall to freeze entirely, the winter storm has blanketed the surrounding boulders, trees and railings in a thick layer of snow and ice. According to Niagara Parks, the falls have only stopped flowing once, and that was in 1848.
Yesterday (December 28th), visitors from all over America were still braving temperatures of -8C (18F) to witness the spectacle first-hand. According to one intrepid tourist from California, the ice sheets may have been thick enough to walk from the Canadian side to the US. Temperatures have since risen in the area.
