With the latest round of severe cold now in the rearview mirror, you have found yourself wondering if it’s gotten so cold that the Ohio River froze over.

The short answer is yes! However, it's been decades since that feat has been achieved. The National Weather Service in Louisville says the last time the Ohio River in Louisville froze over because of cold weather was in back-to-back winters of 1976-1977 and 1977-1978.

It's no surprise that the winter of 1977-1978 was the coldest on record in Louisville, with an average temperature of just 27.1 degrees. That winter featured nearly 30 days with below-zero temperatures, resulting in river ice that was about a foot thick! 

The ice on the Ohio River was so thick in January 1918 that horses could transport goods across the river between Indiana and Louisville. (National Weather Service)

Second on the list is the winter of 1917-1918 with an average temperature of 27.8 degrees. Not surprisingly, that was another winter when the Ohio River froze over. That winter, the river completely froze over and residents were able to walk on the ice between Louisville and southern Indiana.

However, if you're a fan of winter and would like to see the Ohio River frozen over, the Weather Service says because of the river's flow rate and its sheer size, it would take days and days of below-zero temperatures for ice to begin to form and build up–something not in the forecast anytime soon, thankfully.  

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