The Big Melt? Not So Fast, Friend

Two cities, one river, zero agreement on the weather app

James P Fitzsimmons

— 10 min read
The Big Melt? Not So Fast, Friend

🌊 The Falls

Sunday, February 22, 2026

All the news that’s fit to get wet

🌤️ Weather: Same Storm, Two Currencies

🇺🇸 Niagara Falls, NY — Temperatures in °F

Currently a brisk 31°F under a thick blanket of February clouds — the kind of sky that looks like it’s been upholstered in grey flannel. It’s not snowing right now, but don’t unpack the patio furniture just yet.

Day High Snow Chance Today, Sun Feb 22 34°F 29% ❄️ Mon Feb 23 30°F 35% ❄️ Tue Feb 24 32°F 20% 🌥️ Wed Feb 25 34°F 25% ❄️ Thu Feb 26 29°F 70% 🌨️

Thursday looks like nature’s way of saying “you thought February was done with you.” Bundle accordingly.

📡 Full NWS Forecast for Niagara Falls, NY

🇨🇦 Niagara Falls, ON — Temperatures in °C

Currently 0°C — which, for the uninitiated, is the temperature at which water becomes a hazard on every sidewalk and Ontarians start debating whether this counts as “mild.” Spoiler: it does not.

Day High Snow Chance Today, Sun Feb 22 1°C 29% ❄️ Mon Feb 23 -1°C 35% ❄️ Tue Feb 24 0°C 20% 🌥️ Wed Feb 25 1°C 25% ❄️ Thu Feb 26 -2°C 70% 🌨️

A 70% chance of snow on Thursday — which is also, not coincidentally, a great excuse to finally call in that favour from your neighbour with the snowblower.

📡 Environment Canada — Niagara Falls, ON Forecast

niagara falls

🗽 NY Side News

1. A Canadian Firm Comes to America (Carrying Investment, Not Complaints About the Border Wait)

A Canadian metal manufacturing company has announced a $1.3 million U.S. expansion into the City of Niagara Falls, NY. Details on the firm’s specific line of work are still emerging, but this is exactly the kind of cross-border economic love letter both cities could use more of — especially given the current “will they or won’t they” trade tension vibes between Ottawa and Washington. Welcome to the neighbourhood. We’ll bring muffins.

(Niagara Gazette)

2. NYPA’s Next Gen Niagara Hits Another Turbine Milestone

The New York Power Authority’s $1.1 billion Next Generation Niagara program — a 15-year modernization of the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant — has reached its latest milestone with Unit 6’s turbine work advancing. The project, which is digitizing and upgrading the plant’s ageing generators one by one, is the unglamorous but genuinely impressive backbone of New York’s clean energy grid. No ribbon-cutting, just turbines. We respect that.

(Niagara Gazette)

3. Whirlpool Jet Boats Sues the Village of Lewiston Over Dock Ownership

In a lawsuit filed earlier this month in State Supreme Court, the operators of Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours claim they actually own the waterfront property at the Lewiston docks they’ve been leasing from the Village — pointing to an uninterrupted chain of ownership allegedly stretching back to 1835. The Village of Lewiston and New York State have both been named in the claim. This is either a fascinating piece of local property law or the most Niagara way possible to end the off-season. Either way, the jet boats don’t resume until May, so there’s plenty of time to fight it out in court.

(Niagara Gazette | Lockport Journal)

4. 70-Year-Old Falls Man Pleads Guilty to Meth-by-Mail Charge

Charles Barker, 70, of Niagara Falls, NY, pleaded guilty this week to receiving a shipment of approximately 703 grams of crystal methamphetamine mailed from Arizona — a package the US Postal Inspection Service had flagged and intercepted before conducting a controlled delivery to his 77th Street address. He now faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison. The postal service: delivering accountability since 1775.

(Niagara Gazette)

5. Niagara Aerospace Museum Eyes Hydraulic Canal Parcel

The Niagara Aerospace Museum has submitted a bid for a parcel of land along the historic Hydraulic Canal in Niagara Falls, NY, with supporters arguing it would be an ideal new home for the institution — one that could connect the city’s industrial heritage with career pathways for young people in a region that still has a living aerospace economy. An op-ed in the Gazette this week made the case that the museum belongs there. City leaders are reviewing bids. The Hydraulic Canal: once powering mills, possibly about to power imaginations.

(Niagara Gazette)

6. Teens vs. Toxins: Niagara Falls Youth Tackle Pollution and Mental Health

A moving feature this month from Inside Climate News profiles Niagara Falls high school students confronting a one-two punch that too few outsiders know about: the city’s elevated air pollution levels — near a power plant and factories, with no active EPA monitors for PM2.5 since before 2012 — and a youth suicide rate that outpaces New York State averages. The district has hired 18 social workers in seven years (up from zero) and recently became a state Climate Smart Community. These kids are paying attention. We should be too.

(Inside Climate News)

🍁 Ontario Side News

1. The Great Niagara Amalgamation Showdown of 2026

If you thought municipal politics was dull, meet Regional Chair Bob Gale, who this week dropped a pair of letters — one to Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and one to all 12 Niagara mayors — calling for either a four-city or even one-city model for the entire Niagara Region. Currently there are 12 municipalities and 126 elected officials, which Gale says costs too much and accomplishes too little. Tax hikes of 7%, 9.6%, and 6.3% over three years tend to make a man impatient.

The mayors of Niagara Falls and St. Catharines are broadly on board. The mayors of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Fort Erie, Thorold, and Pelham are... less so. NOTL’s Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa called it “existential” and said he was “shocked” Gale hadn’t consulted anyone before going to the press. NDP MPP Wayne Gates called the whole thing “bizarre.” Mayors have until March 3 to respond. Grab your popcorn — or your petition forms.

(CHCH News | 610 CKTB | Niagara Now | Niagara At Large)

2. Courts, Crowbars, and the Royal George Theatre

The Shaw Festival’s $90-million rebuild of the 111-year-old Royal George Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake is proceeding — mostly. Two Victorian homes on Victoria Street were demolished in early February (craters now where there were houses). But a legal challenge by Centurion Building Corporation, a local builder, alleged noncompliance with the Ontario Heritage Act and the Planning Act. A Divisional Court judge issued a stay on demolition of the theatre and box office structures on February 10. The homes? Already gone. A full judicial review hearing is slated for February 26 — which is this Thursday. Worth watching.

Lord Mayor Zalepa says the project went through rigorous heritage review. Centurion’s lawyer says the precedent of proceeding while the court has flagged urgency is “very surprising.” The Shaw, for its part, wants to open a new, bigger Royal George by late 2028. Stay tuned.

(Buffalo Toronto Public Media / NPR | Newswire Canada)

3. Ontario’s Road Salt Shortage Hits Niagara Falls — Streets Get Sandy

A province-wide road salt shortage — caused by higher-than-usual demand, a rough early winter, and North American supply chain headaches — has forced the City of Niagara Falls, ON to officially adapt its winter maintenance program. The city will no longer be spreading straight salt on all roads; instead, a salt-and-sand mixture normally reserved for residential streets will now go wider. It’s less effective at low temperatures but better than nothing. Pelham and other area municipalities are in similar situations. So if your car is getting a little gritty this week, now you know why. We’re basically seasoning the roads like a cast iron pan.

(City of Niagara Falls, ON | Niagara Daily News)

4. Police Search for Missing Georgetown Man — May Be in Niagara Falls

Niagara Regional Police are searching for a missing man from Georgetown, Ontario who may have travelled to the Niagara Falls area. No further details have been released. If you have any information, contact Niagara Regional Police at 905-688-4111.

(CHCH News)

5. Falls Encased in Ice — Best Formations in a Decade

Before the temperature begins its slow wobble toward zero and above, it’s worth noting what happened earlier this month: Niagara Falls saw some of its most dramatic ice formations in years, with the extreme cold in late January and early February causing spectacular ice bridges, frozen mist sculptures, and icicle formations along the gorge that drew visitors from across the region. CTV called it a “winter wonderland.” Local tourism operators called it good for business. Scientists called it physics. We call it gorgeous.

(CTV News)

6. Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum Offers Free February Admission

For those looking for a warm, free, and frankly underrated way to spend a Sunday afternoon, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum is offering free admission (1–5 p.m.) through the end of February. Next year the museum will be undergoing major renovations, so this is your last free February for a while. Bonus: you can learn about NOTL’s role as the first capital of Upper Canada, which makes for excellent dinner-party conversation on either side of the border.

(Niagara Now)

📅 Events This Week — Both Sides of the Falls

🇺🇸 NY Side

🇨🇦 ON Side

📜 On This Day — Niagara Falls History

A look back at the moments that made this place what it is.

February 22, 1819 — Washington’s Birthday at the Falls On this date, the United States celebrated George Washington’s birthday — and Niagara Falls was already drawing visitors making the difficult overland journey just to stand at the edge and marvel. In the early 19th century, the Falls were considered one of the great wonders of the known world, yet utterly inaccessible to most people. No bridge, no railway, no hotel worth the name. Just a roaring curtain of water and a ferry ride you prayed you’d survive. The tourists came anyway. Some things never change. (Niagara Falls History Timeline — Go Niagara Tours)

February, 1848 — The Winter the Falls Went Silent On the night of March 29–30, 1848, the Niagara Falls ran dry — or nearly so. An ice jam on Lake Erie, driven by powerful southwest winds, corked the upper river so effectively that the flow slowed to a trickle. But that February, the ice was already building in the gorge in the spectacular formations that would set the stage for what came next. Locals who walked out onto the dry riverbed that spring found War of 1812 muskets, tomahawks, and bayonets. The U.S. Cavalry reportedly paraded back and forth across the exposed river bottom, because of course they did. It remains the only time in recorded history the Falls essentially stopped. February is when the ice bridge forms. Walk to the edge and think about that. (Today in History — When Niagara Falls Ran Dry)

February 1855 — Roebling’s Bridge Opens, and the World Changes In the winter of 1854–55, John Augustus Roebling — the same engineer who would later design the Brooklyn Bridge — completed the world’s first railway suspension bridge across the Niagara Gorge, connecting the two cities 250 feet above the raging river. Doubters had insisted no suspension bridge could bear the weight of a locomotive. Roebling’s test engine, the Great Western Railway’s London, crossed on March 8, 1855 with “no vibration.” The bridge also quietly served as a crossing point for freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad. Before it, escaping to Canada meant swimming or praying your ferryboat held. After it, freedom was a train ride. The bridge stood until 1897 and was the engineering marvel of its era. (Niagara Falls Tourism — World’s First Railway Suspension Bridge | Wikipedia — Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge)

November 16, 1896 — Tesla and Westinghouse Light Up Buffalo It didn’t happen in February, but the whole story began here. When Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse threw the switch at the Adams Power Plant in Niagara Falls, NY, alternating current electricity lit up the streetcars and homes of Buffalo — 26 miles away. It was the first time a major city had been powered by long-distance hydroelectric transmission, and it proved that Tesla’s AC system, not Edison’s DC, was the future. The Falls haven’t stopped generating power since. Next time you flip a light switch anywhere in the world, a small thank-you is owed to this gorge. (Legal Legacy — Niagara Falls Power Plant Begins Operation | Niagara Falls USA — Hydropower History)

October 24, 1901 — A 63-Year-Old Teacher Goes Over in a Barrel Annie Edson Taylor, a schoolteacher from Bay City, Michigan, decided the best way to secure her financial future was to go over the Horseshoe Falls in a barrel. She was 63. She survived, emerging battered but alive, and immediately said: “No one ought ever do that again.” Nobody listened. She remains the first person to survive the plunge, and her barrel is in a museum. She made very little money from the stunt. The Falls: humbling the ambitious since time immemorial. (HISTORY.com — First Barrel Ride Down Niagara Falls | Wikipedia — Annie Edson Taylor | Discover Niagara — Queen of the Mist)

🤝 Across the Border

Two cities, one peculiar week. On the American side, a Canadian company is moving in. On the Canadian side, the regional government can’t agree on what “the region” should even look like. In Lewiston, a jet boat company is suing over docks that have been in dispute since 1835 — proving that nothing in Niagara is ever truly settled. Meanwhile, the Royal George Theatre in NOTL exists in a state of quantum uncertainty: partly demolished, partly stayed, waiting on a Thursday courtroom decision.

If there is a metaphor for life along this shared river, it is probably that: something beautiful, something contested, a court date pending, and snow in the forecast.

The Falls (both of them) keep going. So do we.

See you Monday morning.

🌊 The Falls — “We cover both sides so you don’t have to cross in this weather.”

Read more