Niagara Falls looks frozen, but it's not

If you've heard Niagara Falls is frozen over, well, HLN reports it's an ice-covered lie.

'It looks like that from the Canadian side where some of this video is blocked, but with the new hydroelectric planes built on both sides of the border, steps have been taken to keep ice from blocking the water way.'

One man described it as a an optical illusion making some think the water's at an icy standstill.

Although parts of the falls do freeze in winter, it's unlikely they'll freeze as much this winter as they have in previous years. But WGRZ reports when rumors began spreading the landmark was frozen, people flocked to the tourist site with cameras.

Niagara Falls Live reports it would be pretty remarkable if the falls really did freeze over, which is why the news caused so much excitement.

'The flow of water was stopped completely over both falls on March 29th 1848 due to an ice jam in the upper river for several hours. This is the only known time to have occurred.'

Even then, the falls weren't completely frozen over, but the flow was stopped enough that people could walk out and retrieve things from the riverbed!

Another watery landmark has seen significant freezing this year. WBBM reports 90% of Lake Michigan is covered in ice. Last year, just 20% was covered.

As for Niagara - we'll have to keep dreaming.