Originally published 2018-01-15.
At the end of December 2017 a deep cold snap settled over southern Ontario and western New York. Environment Canada issued extreme cold warnings across much of Ontario, and on some mornings in Niagara the wind chill made it feel close to -19°C. The result at Niagara Falls was spectacular: railings, trees and viewing platforms on the Canadian side disappeared under thick white ice, and huge mounds of frozen spray built up at the foot of the falls.
Despite headlines calling the falls “frozen”, the water never stopped. What freezes is the mist and the edges of the flow; the river itself keeps pouring over the brink underneath. That contrast between rushing water and still ice is exactly what drew visitors out in the cold, phones in hand, over the Christmas holidays. Below is a selection of the photos they shared on Instagram, followed by an explanation of how the ice forms, a short history of the falls in deep winter, and tips if you want to see it yourself.
Photos of the icy falls
Photographer Arjun Yadav (@arjsun on Instagram) shared this view on 26 December 2017, early in the cold spell. Frost has turned the trees along the gorge white, while the river below still runs dark and open, a good illustration of the gap between how frozen the scene looks and how much water is actually moving.
Kael Rebick (@punkodelish) titled this post “Fire and ice” on 27 December. The phrase suits Niagara in winter: low sun lighting the spray from the side can turn the icy mist gold and pink against the white banks below.
(The Instagram post originally embedded here is no longer available.)
This spot held a post by Jay@Toronto (@gjtoronto) from 27 December 2017, which has since been removed from Instagram. Many social posts from that week have disappeared, which is one reason galleries like this credit each photographer by name.
Zemirah Leibovitch (@fluffey_skye) posted this scene on the afternoon of 27 December. Ice coats every surface the spray can reach, including railings and lamp posts along the Niagara Parkway, where layers can grow several centimetres thick in a single cold night.
Arjun Yadav’s “A Frozen Paradise” post, the same series as the photo at the top of this section. The Canadian side gives the classic head-on view of the Horseshoe Falls, which is why most of the winter photos from this week were taken from Ontario.
(The Instagram post originally embedded here is no longer available.)
A post by Kostas Giannoukakis (@costas.gian) from 27 December appeared here; it is no longer available on Instagram. It was one of many holiday-trip photos that turned the cold snap into a small online event.
Adam Danni (@adamrdanni) noted a temperature of 10 degrees Fahrenheit, about -12°C, on the morning of 27 December. That figure is the actual air temperature; the lower “feels like” numbers quoted in news reports include the effect of wind.
Why Niagara Falls never fully freezes
Around 2,800 cubic metres of water per second flow over the falls in the daytime tourist season, and even at night and in winter, when more water is diverted to hydroelectric plants, the flow remains enormous. Water moving that fast and in that volume simply cannot freeze solid.
What does freeze is everything around it. Spray from the falls drifts onto nearby surfaces and freezes on contact, building up layer after layer of rime and glaze ice. At the base, falling ice and frozen mist pile up into a jumble known locally as the ice bridge, which in hard winters can stretch across the river below the falls. Upstream, an ice boom placed at the outlet of Lake Erie each winter since 1964 holds back floating lake ice, reducing the risk of ice jams that could damage shoreline property and power intakes.
Air temperature and wind chill
News reports from this period mixed two different numbers. The air temperature is what a thermometer reads; the wind chill or “feels like” figure estimates how cold it seems on exposed skin once wind is taken into account. A day at -12°C with a strong wind can feel like -19°C or colder. Wind chill matters for frostbite risk, but ice formation depends on the real air temperature and on how much spray is reaching a surface.
Niagara in deep winter: a short history
The falls have stopped only once in recorded history for natural reasons. On 29 March 1848 an ice jam at the outlet of Lake Erie blocked the river for somewhere between 30 and 40 hours, according to different accounts, and people reportedly walked on the exposed riverbed below the brink. (In 1969 engineers deliberately diverted water from the American Falls for several months to study its rock face, but that was not caused by cold.)
The ice bridge was once a winter attraction in its own right, with vendors setting up stalls on it. That ended after February 1912, when the ice broke up and three people were swept to their deaths. Walking on the ice below the falls has been banned ever since.
Visiting Niagara Falls in winter
Winter is the quietest season at Niagara and, after a cold spell, one of the most beautiful. A few practical points:
- The boat tours into the gorge run only from spring to autumn, but on the Canadian side the tunnels of Journey Behind the Falls are usually open year-round. Check current opening times before you go.
- The Winter Festival of Lights runs in Niagara Falls, Ontario, from roughly November to February, and the falls are illuminated every evening.
- Dress for wind and spray, not just temperature: a waterproof outer layer, a hat and gloves make a big difference near the brink.
- Paths and steps by the falls can be very icy. Wear boots with good grip and stay behind barriers; the ice below the falls is unstable.
- Keep phone batteries warm in an inside pocket, as cold drains them quickly.
Cold snaps are hard to predict far ahead, so if seeing the ice is the goal, watch the forecast for several days in a row below about -10°C. The longer the cold lasts, the thicker and more dramatic the ice becomes.
Sources: Daily Hive: Niagara Falls is a frozen winter wonderland (December 2017); Global News: Niagara Falls frozen winter weather; The Weather Network: Niagara Falls partially frozen after days of bitter cold (2026, on the 1848 stoppage); Wikipedia: Niagara Falls; Instagram: @arjsun; Instagram: @punkodelish; Instagram: @fluffey_skye; Instagram: @adamrdanni.
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