BRRR!

BRRRR!
March 29th

167 years ago today the water flowing over the falls at Niagara stopped.

A few panicked hours later, the sun rose. Many people jammed churches with fears of the end of the world.  Some feared divine retribution, some feared retaliation over the war with Mexico.

Once the sun rose, people began walking the bed of the river avoiding flopping fish (maybe picking a few up for dinner??) and scrambling turtles. Many collected debris that had been thrown into the river in years past such as bayonets, tomahawks and guns as souvenirs. (Apparently none of these people were concerned that the ice jam/dam could be cleared as quickly as it built up.)

The relatively new Maid of the Mist tour boats took the opportunity to clear away some large boulders that had caused needed tricky maneuvers from boat captains during their tour rides.
Soon, news finally arrived  (from Buffalo 3-hours away) that ice on Lake Erie had been blown by strong southwest winds into the mouth of the Niagara River, blocking the flow.

Many businesses had to close down, waterwheels that powered mills shut down. People began to flock to Niagara to see this historic event.

The falls would be quiet for a total of thirty to forty hours, when, after sundown on March 31st, a huge thunderous rumbling could be heard coming from the south. As it became louder, a wall of water rushed toward Niagara and returned the little town back to normal.

As I write this story of events of those couple of days, I recall the super cold and snowy winter we have had here on the east coast. Could this happen again?  Could Niagara stop running again? Maybe this year? Who knows, but I would love to know what wonderful things could be found on the bed of the great and awesome river after 167 years of not seeing drylight.

Celebrate a spectacular weather event Today!