The year 1932 also witnessed a very cold and long winter but even that did not stop the falls completely. Even as recently as 2014 and 2015, photographs in the media showed a frozen Niagara Falls on account of extreme weather.

In January 1932, a rare and high-intensity weather event caused Niagara Falls to "freeze"—though technically, the water never stops flowing entirely. Extremely cold temperatures and high winds drove massive amounts of ice from Lake Erie into the Niagara River, creating a monumental ice jam that significantly reduced the flow over the American Falls. This created a high-value "glacial" spectacle that drew thousands of tourists who flocked to see the 15-story "ice bridge" and massive icicles that encased the cliffs. While a more famous "total stoppage" occurred in 1848, the 1932 event is remembered as one of the premier "frozen falls" years of the 20th century. In 2026, such events are less likely to cause a total blockage because of the steel ice boom installed at the mouth of the river in 1964, which is a high-quality engineering tool designed to prevent ice from jamming the water intakes for the region's critical hydroelectric power plants.