NIAGARA FALLS, New York: Niagara Falls is one place the nation’s deep freeze is as much seen as it is felt.
Mist from the surging waters has been freezing instantly on everything it touches, coating trees, walkways, cliffs and overlooks in a dreamy, brilliant white. Visitors hardy enough to withstand the bone-chilling cold are treated to snapshots and selfies in a winter wonderland.
“It’s outstanding. As cold as it gets, it’s a year-round attraction,” Paul Tabaczynski said during a visit to see the spectacle on Tuesday. A Buffalo native, he lives in Dallas now but remembered to dress in layers — flannel over a T-shirt and a lined sweatshirt that passes for his winter jacket in Texas.
Although everything around them freezes, the three waterfalls that make up the natural attraction between the US and Canada continue to flow and churn up the frosty mist. The westerly wind usually blows it toward the US side, National Weather Service meteorologist Steven Welch said, where the moisture wraps every inch of the landscape in white.
“I can’t feel my feet!” 12-year-old Keila Cruz told her father, Jonathan, as she and a dozen other family members thawed out inside the Niagara Falls State Park visitor center during a trip from Deltona, Florida.
“We haven’t even gone out yet,” Jonathan Cruz said. The family had only come from the parking lot about 200 yards away, but with temperatures in the teens and wind gusting over 40 miles per hour, the group needed a warming break before venturing to the water’s edge.
“We’re trying to get our feet warm because we’re frozen,” Jonathan Cruz said.
With a deep freeze stretching from south Texas to Canada and from Montana through New England, the surreal scenes have played out across a wide swath of the US.
Fountains froze in Texarkana, Arkansas, New York City’s Bryant Park — and even Savannah, Georgia, where January’s average high is 60 degrees (16 Celsius). The thermometer read 30 (-1 Celsius) on Tuesday, cold enough for icicles to dangle from the ornate wrought-iron fountain in Forsyth Park.
Chunks of ice floated down the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan made “ice balls” with its rolling waves. As of Monday, ice cover on the Great Lakes was at 19.7 percent, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Forecasters warned of hazardous travel from the southeast to New England through Friday, with the worst expected from the Carolinas to Maine. The bitter cold will linger into the weekend.
Tim Partin of Williamsburg, Kentucky, was in Niagara Falls on business when he decided to take in the scenery.
“It really is pretty,” Partin said.
Cold turns Niagara Falls into icy winter wonderland
Cold turns Niagara Falls into icy winter wonderland
Who will triumph at the BAFTAs? ‘Hamnet’ has the home advantage
- ’Hamnet’ favored for BAFTA best film award
- ’One Battle After Another’ will pose strong challenge
LONDON:“Hamnet” could edge ahead of “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners” to win the top prize at the BAFTAs, as the heartbreaker about Shakespeare, his wife Agnes and the death of their son is likely to win over British voters, experts said.
Action-packed dark comedy “One Battle After Another,” directed by US filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, leads the field with 14 nominations ahead of Sunday’s ceremony, followed by vampire thriller “Sinners,” which has received the most nods for next month’s Oscars.
But “Hamnet,” directed by previous Oscar winner Chloe Zhao and based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell, is the bookmakers’ favorite to take the best film award at the BAFTAs.
“I think it’s going to be about ‘Hamnet’,” said Tim Richards, founder and chief executive of Vue cinema group.
“’One Battle After Another’ is another extraordinary film, but ‘Hamnet’ ... just feels like the kind of movie that BAFTA will go for.”
The 79th British Academy Film Awards will be held in London on Sunday evening, hosted by Scottish actor, TV presenter and director Alan Cumming.
CHLOE ZHAO VERSUS PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON
Ian Sandwell, movies editor at Digital Spy, said BAFTA loved to recognize its own.
“So I wouldn’t be surprised to see (’Hamnet’) walk away with best film and maybe even Chloe Zhao challenging Paul Thomas Anderson in director as well, and then the acting awards,” he said.
Richards said if “Hamnet” wins best film, Anderson could receive best director, or vice versa, as BAFTA divides the top awards between “two extraordinary films.”
For leading actress, Jessie Buckley is a shoo-in for her performance as Shakespeare’s wife, according to bookmakers.
Leading actor is harder to call, with Timothee Chalamet vying with Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael B. Jordan for their respective performances in “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners.”
Sandwell said Chalamet had been picking up awards, including a Golden Globe, in the run-up to the BAFTAs for the table-tennis movie “Marty Supreme.” “It would be his first (BAFTA), so it probably will happen,” he said.
But Sandwell said he would love to see Robert Aramayo walk away with the prize for his acclaimed performance as Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson in “I Swear.”
“Sometimes BAFTAs throw out a surprise in these leading actor categories to give it to a local lad, and it would be absolutely brilliant to see him win on the night,” he said.
In the supporting acting categories, the race is open but bookmakers currently favor Stellan Skarsgard and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas from Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value.”
One notable movie — “KPop Demon Hunters” — is not nominated because it did not have a theatrical release in Britain before it was available to stream on Netflix.
But the singing stars of the animated feature will perform their global hit “Golden” at the awards.
