Christine Whelan FEO, February 1, 2024, VOL. 5 ISSUE 11

There have been a few words, and a few terms used to describe the phenomenon. An invisible shield that always seems to begin at Sodom Road, a strange weather and science existence, it’s like there’s a force field, twilight zone, Netherby triangle, a magic snow wall. But the one that seems to have stuck is the Sodom Road curtain.

Those who have been around the Greater Fort Erie area all their lives —  some will even say they’ve heard their parents speak of it — will say it’s always been this way.

Those who know this area will admit, to live here, you must be aware, and you must understand.

“The Sodom Road curtain has been around much longer than I have. I moved here in 2001. I’m a commercial truck driver so I see it often,” says Dan Andrews.

Dan had recorded videos from his truck, now posted on Facebook, showing the drastic weather changes along the QEW, always occurring around Sodom Road. One video, starting on the Burlington Bridge, shows a mild day with blue skies. The video jumps forward to Sodom Road where all is white — the sky, the air, the ground — like a wall. Like a curtain.

It can happen several times in one season, sometimes as early as October. During these times, you know all the Fort Erie cars on the highway because they are covered in snow.

People from Niagara Falls think Fort Erie people are out of their minds when we say we’re snowed in, as they look out their windows to a sunny, calm day — and green grass.

Many have stories. Some have told stories of going to high school in Niagara Falls while living in Ridgeway or Crystal Beach. They were sometimes met with a snowy surprise returning home at the end of the day. And it all began at Sodom Road.

Some have worked in Fort Erie while living in another Niagara town. They would get sent home from work when the Fort Erie weather turned wild. Driving home carefully on the QEW, they’d come to Sodom Road and hit blue skies. The rest of the day would be theirs to enjoy.

The Sodom Road Curtain: What Is It?

In search of an official explanation, I came up short. It appears logical that it has something to do with the locally well-known “lake effect” Fort Erie is accustomed to but why screech to a stop at Sodom?

I did find someone with an interesting theory. Brian Smyth, a lifetime local, took time to answer me when I asked him his thoughts on the phenomenon.

“In the late ’70s, I drove through this regularly for four years on my way to Brock and back and often wonder about this. I have some anecdotal ideas about it based on my observations, but always wanted to talk with a meteorologist to confirm or refute.

I think the escarpment is too far away to be playing a significant role, but it is other geographic features that cause it. I think the curtain is the edge of a line of precipitation (“snow band”) coming off the lake at a northeasterly (our prevailing winds being southwest, mostly dictated by our latitude) direction where either to the left of it it has passed mostly over land, or it has “run out” of the load it has picked up passing over the lake.

The amount of precipitation picked up from the lake is finite and if the air mass moves along and parallel to the lake it moves along a greater distance in contact with the lake’s surface area and so it picks up more. If it moves across the lake the distance is shorter (the lake being long and narrow in shape) and less is picked up.

“To the right of the line is most of Fort Erie that is not as far from the lake (in the northeasterly direction) so gets dumped on, and the area to the left is farther from the lake and the (lesser) load has been dropped by then.

“With the warming trend of climate change I expected that this line would move, like most other things have, but it hasn’t; it’s pretty much at the same place as it was in the 70’s. So, while the weather conditions have changed and the geographical ones haven’t, it indicates to me that geography is the main reason for the location of the curtain.”

Mother Nature does have its mysteries. The explanation for the Sodom Road curtain may remain but a theory. However, the reality, and priority, at hand is to be aware and to understand. It is an essential part of Fort Erie winter living to always check in with what Mother Nature is doing, on the other side of the curtain.

Photo credit: Niagara 411