Niagara Falls
Facts
Niagara Falls information
Niagara
Falls
Facts - General Info
- Niagara
Falls is located between two cities:
Niagara Falls Ontario, and Niagara Falls New York
- Niagara
Falls has over 10 million visitors every year. Summer
or winter, people are constantly coming attracted by this natural
wonder and its amazing landmarks
- One
million gallons of water every two seconds, from four of the Great
Lakes is funneled into the fifth one, at Niagara Falls city
- Niagara
Falls is consisted of three adjacent
waterfalls on the Niagara river
- Goat
Island splits the course of the Niagara River, resulting in the
separation of the Niagara Falls Canada to the west from the American
and Bridal Veil Falls to the east
Niagara Falls Facts-World's
Natural
Wonder
The smaller
Bridal Veil Falls is separated from the main falls by Luna
Island.
Luna Island is accessible via a pedestrian bridge from Goat Island.
There is an interesting, romantic story, how Luna Island got a name.
Niagara
Falls is a great location for rainbows (or solar bows) which are made
when the sunlights reflects off the Niagara Falls mist.
Over
one hundred years ago, Niagara Falls was also one of the best locations
for rainbows and lunar bows. A Lunar bow is a rainbow
created by the light of the moon shining on the mist created by the
Falls.
In 1860 lunar bows were last reported. The best time was when the moon
was full and high and the sky clear of clouds.
One of the best locations to view this phenomenon was Luna Island on
the American side of the river.
The
Best Niagara Falls Attractions are centered around the
waterfalls, on
Canadian side, where the Table Rock center and the best Niagara Falls
Hotels are. This is the place
where you want to be.
... and how big is Niagara Falls ?
Niagara
Falls
Facts in numbers
- The larger Horseshoe Falls drop about 53m and
is 792m wide
- The American Falls drop about 21m and is 323m
wide
- 90% of the water of the Niagara River flows
over Horseshoe Falls
- The rapids above the Falls reach a maximum
speed of 40 km/h
- The fastest speeds occur at the Falls: 109 km/h
- The water
through the Whirlpool Rapids below
the falls reaches 48 km/h, and at Devil’s Hole Rapids 36 km/h (see Jet Boat attraction)
- The Niagara
River is a connecting channel
between two Great Lakes, Erie and Ontario
- The elevation between the Erie and Ontario
lakes is about 99m
- The Niagara River is about 58km long
Niagara River-Satellite view
- Niagara
Falls have retreated 11km toward Lake Erie, in the past 2,500 years. It
may be the fastest moving waterfalls in the world
- The average fall from Lake Erie to the
beginning of the upper Niagara Rapids is only 2.7m
- Just below
the Niagara Falls Canada is the
deepest section in the river, it is 52m
- The Niagara
Gorge is 11km long
- More than
168,000 m3 of water goes over the
crestline of the falls every minute during peak daytime tourist hours
Interesting Niagara
Falls Facts
The
falls face directly toward the Canadian shore. The most complete views
of Niagara Falls are available from the Canadian shoreline and it is
the best spot for some amazing pictures.
The original Niagara Falls was
near the sites of present-day Queenston, Ontario, and Lewiston, New
York, but erosion of their crest has caused the waterfalls to retreat
several miles southward.
At Grand Island, the Niagara River
divides into the west channel, known as the Canadian or Chippawa
Channel, and the east channel, known as the American or Tonawanda
Channel.
Water
always flows down to the sea, and the land slopes downward through the
Great Lakes Basin from west to east - but the Niagara River actually
flows north.
The brown foam below Niagara Falls is a natural
result of tons of water plummeting into the depths below. The brown
color is clay, which contains suspended particles of decayed vegetative
matter. It is mostly from
the shallow eastern basin of Lake Erie.
The
beautiful green color of the Niagara River comes from the dissolved
salts and very finely ground rock. An estimated 60 tons of
dissolved minerals are swept over Niagara Falls every minute.
Other Niagara
Falls Facts -Niagara Gorge:
- The
huge volume of water rushing from the Niagara Falls is crushed into the
narrow Great gorge, creating the Whirlpool Rapids that stretches for
1.6km
- The water
surface here drops 15m and the
rushing waters can reach speeds as high as 9mps
- The
Whirlpool is a basin 518m long by 365m wide
with depths up to 38m. River makes the elbow here, sharp
right-angled turn
In the
Whirlpool, you can see the "reversal
phenomena".
When the Niagara River is at full flow, the waters travel over the
rapids and enter the pool, then travel counterclockwise around the pool
past the natural outlet. Pressure builds up when the water
tries
to cut across itself to reach the outlet and this pressure forces the
water under the incoming stream.
The
swirling waters create a vortex, or whirlpool. If the water flow is low
(water is diverted for hydroelectric purposes) the reversal does not
take place; the water merely moves clockwise through the pool and
passes to the outlet. Below the Whirlpool is another set of rapids,
which drops approximately 12m.
The perfect spot to see Whirlpool, and take amazing pictures, is right
above it, in the Niagara
Whirlpool Aerocar.
In March, 1848 Niagara Falls had stopped. It lasted for thirty hours.
The river dried up.
What happened and was Niagara Falls frozen?
Millions of tons of ice became lodged at the source of the river,
causing the channel to be completely blocked.
Frozen Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls Facts - Weather:
The coldest months in Niagara Falls are November through March with the
average temperature between -6 and 4°C.
April and October are also brisk. June, July and August are balmier,
with average highs of 25°C and lows of 15°C.
We hope that reading and being familiar with these facts about Niagara
Falls and its history,
combining with your visit and experience there will make your Niagara
story incredible.
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