Frozen portions of Niagara Falls make for an icy spectacle

By Patrick Kulp
1 DAY AGO
A frigid blast of Arctic air that is chilling the eastern United States has frozen over parts of America’s largest falls.

Snow, mist and massive ice formations are shrouding parts of Niagara Falls, which straddles the U.S.-Canadian border. While stretches of the falls may appear frozen solid, water still flows down the cliffs beneath the ice.

SEE ALSO: U.S. hit with most unusually cold air of any region in the world this week

The jagged walls of ice created by the falls are not uncommon, but the freezing weather gripping the Eastern U.S. right now is caused by the most unusually cold air of anywhere in the world. The Arctic front, combined with a spoke of the polar vortex, is shattering longstanding cold temperature records across the region. Temperatures around the falls reached a low of -13 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday.

But that didn’t stop a crowd of tourists from flocking to the site to catch the stunning sights of the frozen falls this week.

IMAGES:
niagara-falls Masses of ice form around the Canadian ‘Horseshoe’ Falls as seen from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015.
IMAGE: THE CANADIAN PRESS, AARON LYNETT/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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EXTRA IMAGE: Fountain in New York