Niagra Falls 1911?

[Taffy]

I just got an email with a photo of Niagra Falls in 1911. It shows the falls completely frozen. IS this possible? DID it occur? WHEN did it occur?
HOW cold was it and for HOW long?

[LTHLBLU]

post the pic

[Aquawind]

It's never frozen solid with no water flowing underneath.

http://www.niagarafallslive.com/Facts_a ... _Falls.htm

The 1848 ice jam stopped the flow but did not freeze it.

[Taffy]

I can't seem to save the photo correctly to get it up to photbucket.
What is your email and I will send it to you. Maybe you can get it to work.
Kirataffy@swfla.rr.com

[LTHLBLU]

send it to cobraguy@gmail.com

[LTHLBLU]

Here is the pic:

[O Town]

That photo is on the Niagra Falls site Aquawind just linked us to.

It's never frozen solid with no water flowing underneath.

http://www.niagarafallslive.com/Facts_a ... _Falls.htm

The 1848 ice jam stopped the flow but did not freeze it.

The photo was taken in 1848 when they had the ice jam, not 1911. Amazing non the less.

[tropicana]

I'm glad I don't live in Niagara

And I'm glad I wasn't alive in 1848 and/or 1911.

[Taffy]

Thank you. I enjoyed learning about the history of the falls.

[bob rulz]

That photo is on the Niagra Falls site Aquawind just linked us to.

It's never frozen solid with no water flowing underneath.

http://www.niagarafallslive.com/Facts_a ... _Falls.htm

The 1848 ice jam stopped the flow but did not freeze it.

The photo was taken in 1848 when they had the ice jam, not 1911. Amazing non the less.

Are you sure that they had photographs of that quality back then? Seems to be pretty good quality for 1848.

[senorpepr]

That photo is on the Niagra Falls site Aquawind just linked us to.

It's never frozen solid with no water flowing underneath.

http://www.niagarafallslive.com/Facts_a ... _Falls.htm

The 1848 ice jam stopped the flow but did not freeze it.

The photo was taken in 1848 when they had the ice jam, not 1911. Amazing non the less.

Are you sure that they had photographs of that quality back then? Seems to be pretty good quality for 1848.

They had the technology... it was just VERY rare.

There are color photographs from the Civil War. The cameras were VERY expensive and only a few existed... but they existed nonetheless.

[JBG]

That photo is on the Niagra Falls site Aquawind just linked us to.

It's never frozen solid with no water flowing underneath.

http://www.niagarafallslive.com/Facts_a ... _Falls.htm

The 1848 ice jam stopped the flow but did not freeze it.

The photo was taken in 1848 when they had the ice jam, not 1911. Amazing non the less.

Are you sure that they had photographs of that quality back then? Seems to be pretty good quality for 1848.

They had the technology... it was just VERY rare.

There are color photographs from the Civil War. The cameras were VERY expensive and only a few existed... but they existed nonetheless.

Were battle pictures from the Civil War being e-mailed?

[Extremeweatherguy]

That photo is on the Niagra Falls site Aquawind just linked us to.

It's never frozen solid with no water flowing underneath.

http://www.niagarafallslive.com/Facts_a ... _Falls.htm

The 1848 ice jam stopped the flow but did not freeze it.

The photo was taken in 1848 when they had the ice jam, not 1911. Amazing non the less.

Are you sure that they had photographs of that quality back then? Seems to be pretty good quality for 1848.

They had the technology... it was just VERY rare.

There are color photographs from the Civil War. The cameras were VERY expensive and only a few existed... but they existed nonetheless.

Were battle pictures from the Civil War being e-mailed?

yes, they took them on their camera phone and then emailed them back to the command posts via their blackberrys.

[Scott Patterson]

Nice historic photos.

Around here, all the waterfalls actually do freeze in winter, but they have a much smaller volume than Niagra, and the winters are much colder here than around Niagra Falls. Still, frozen waterfalls are always cool.

[JBG]

Nice historic photos.

Around here, all the waterfalls actually do freeze in winter, but they have a much smaller volume than Niagra, and the winters are much colder here than around Niagra Falls. Still, frozen waterfalls are always cool.

What temps do you get there? Whenver there's a polar outbreak, I always see you on the "warm side" of the polar front. How come so cold then?

[Ptarmigan]

Here is the pic:

Interesting photo. Must be a sight to see.

[Scott Patterson]

What temps do you get there? Whenver there's a polar outbreak, I always see you on the "warm side" of the polar front.

Record low around here is -61 without the windchill. How cold is that? Imagine this. If it were 90 degrees warmer, it would still be below freezing! Right now it's 5 degrees outside, hardly unusual for the day after Halloween.

Click below for the averages/records for the closest long term operating weather station to where I live:

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimat ... y/USCO0258

In an "average year" however, our coldest day is only around -31 (according to the NWS), so anything much below -40 is fairly rare and temps at -60 have only occured on three days in the last 49 years.

Compare this with a very mild record low of -15 for Niagra Falls. In an "average year" the coldest day in Niagra Falls is only -4. See the charts below for comparison:

http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/htmlfiles/ny/ny.extmin.html

http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/htmlfiles/co/co.extmin.html

How come so cold then?

It is because this is a high desert in a river valley with mountains around. The cold air sinks off the mountains and settles in the river valleys. Days can be surprisingly warm here, though. In summer, the record high in Maybell is 102 and the average high in July is 85. It changes a lot from day to day. In October, for example, we sometimes have had lows in the teens and highs in the 80's on the same day. Maybell is one of only three places in the USA where temperatures as low as -60 and as high as 100 have been recoded in the same place. The other places are Parshall ND and Fort Yukon AK.

Although Maybell holds the record low in Colorado, there are places that the winters are colder on average and last much longer. Fraser, east of here has the shortest frost free period in the lower 48 (only 4 days) and has recorded below 0 temperatures in all months except June, July, and August. Fraser is even significantly colder than International Falls, which claims falsely to be the "icebox of the nation". Some areas in the mountains the last year round.

Not all places in Colorado are like that though. Places like Denver and Grand Junction have mild winters.

[pawxguy]

Hi Scott
I checked out your climatology and especially liked the July #'s of 85/47. I was surprised at the annual prec of< 12" or so. With the .83" for Jan how does that translate in avg. snowfall? Do you have close to a 30-1 ratio?

[PTrackerLA]

I find it interesting that the record low for Niagra Falls is only -15. The record low for the state of Louisiana is -16. How is that possible?

[Scott Patterson]

I was surprised at the annual prec of< 12" or so. With the .83" for Jan how does that translate in avg. snowfall?

It varies a lot in a short area, but in the Yampa River Valley, and according to the Wesern Climate Center, snowfall varies from 60.4 inches a year at Maybell (driest place) to 165.4 at Steamboat. A bit closer, and perhaps the closest "ex-station" to where I live averaged 81.4 inches, but only reported between 1949-1976 and is hasn't been active for 30 years so recent records are not avaialble. The mountains surrounding the valley get around 400 inches a year.

Strangely perhaps, the Niagra Falls and Buffalo areas have the same average annual snowfall amounts as around here (except for Steamboat which is much snowier). It is drier here and Buffalo and Niagra get more snow in winter, but much less in spring and fall. Every station around here has reported snow in every month except July and August, so the snow season is longer.

Although not the norm, here's a photo taken at nearby Ripple Creek on June 4, 2005:



This is not the norm though and down in the valley, it usually snows a little in May, but June goes is usually snow free. In the high mountains, it is different and it always snows in June.

I find it interesting that the record low for Niagra Falls is only -15. The record low for the state of Louisiana is -16. How is that possible?

Part of it is time period length of the weather station. Buffalo has recorded a temperature of -20, but the weather station dates back to 1922. The Niagra Falls station dates to 1989. The Maybell station dates back to 1958. However, Lousiana's -16 dates all the way back to 1899 before the other stations were in existance. If they were, it's likely they would have recorded colder temperatures. Also, the areas in NY around the lake always report mild winter temperatures compared some to other areas.