According to the Evansville Courier, late December 1917 and January 1918 saw a then-record snowfall and freezing temperatures across the Ohio Valley. In January alone, 41 inches of snow fell in Evansville, besting the previous record snowfall in 1879. Temperatures plunged into the subzero. The Ohio River froze over and formed a large ice gorge at Evansville�s river bend. The frozen Ohio crushed the hulls of docked boats and cut off food and coal deliveries all along the river. With the river frozen and streets impassable, Evansville largely shut down but residents made the most of the weather.