Frozen portions of Niagara Falls make for an icy spectacle

 By 
Patrick Kulp
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

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.

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

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

A cold and windy morning in #NiagaraUSA! #NiagaraFalls A video posted by Explore Niagara Falls USA (@niagarafallsusa) on Feb 19, 2015 at 6:26am PST

Niagara Falls 2/18/15. Super cold at the falls yesterday. #niagarafalls #NY #waterfalls #winter #freezing #beautiful #bestoftheday #picoftheday #videooftheday #photooftheday #webstagram #instagramers #igers #tweetgram #frozen #instamood #instalove #all_shot_members #all_shots A video posted by K (@issakimani) on Feb 19, 2015 at 7:04am PST

An icy spectacle! #NiagaraUSA #NiagaraFalls #NiagaraFallsUSA A video posted by Explore Niagara Falls USA (@niagarafallsusa) on Feb 19, 2015 at 9:23am PST

A photo posted by Carol Stimmel (@clstimmel) on Feb 19, 2015 at 9:56am PST

My first winter visit of #niagarafalls #panorama hello #newyork A photo posted by brontosaurusrexx (@brontosaurusrexx) on Feb 19, 2015 at 10:47am PST

Spectacular. A video posted by Gio Benitez (@giobenitez) on Feb 19, 2015 at 12:11pm PST

Niagara Falls A photo posted by Sandra Souto (@soutosandra2) on Feb 19, 2015 at 10:09am PST

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