Frozen Niagra Falls
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Mark Twain once remarked about Niagara Falls, "Although it was wonderful to see all that water tumbling down, it would be even more wonderful to see all that water tumbling up." I wonder what he would have said about the water not tumbling at all. Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow and this is The Weather Notebook.

On March 29, 1848, something incredible happened: Niagara Falls went dry. Early on the 29th, suddenly shifting, gale winds and high waves drove Lake Erie ice rapidly toward the Niagara River. That jammed ice blocks together to form an impenetrable ice dam. By evening, the Niagara River flow had slowed to a trickle.

When local residents awoke the next morning, something felt wrong...indeed, something sounded wrong" There was...silence, an eerie silence. For the only time in recorded history, both of the Niagara's Falls had stopped...well...falling! Thousands of people rushed to the Falls and saw rock and ice with small pools of stilled water. Many descended into the Great Niagara Gorge to explore the never-before-seen basin at the foot of the Falls and retrieved a variety of relics. These included War-of-1812 bayonets, muskets and swords. A squadron of US calvary rode down the river bed enjoying the novel situation.

Some 30 hours later, pounding winds and waters aided by warm air finally breached the ice dam, and flow into the Niagara River resumed. A "low growl" began upstream of the Falls, as a wall of water rushed down the riverbed, and leapt over the Falls, putting the Falls back on an unimpeded course of flowing water.

Thanks to contributing writer Keith Heidorn. The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington Observeratory. The program is underwritten by Subaru and the National Science Foundation.