Warm as ice? Ice On Whyte to kick off with above freezing temperatures

The 16th annual Ice On Whyte ice carving festival has returned for another year, but for the fourth year in the past five years, the temperatures are expectedto be above 0C.

The freeze-thaw cycle experienced this January in the Edmonton area is due to a warm Pacific air mass moving to the area, followed by a cold arctic air mass, which leads to a deep freeze, said Kyle Fougere.

"In the short term over last five years it seems like every January we do have this cycle of these air masses that are coming in where you have the cold and the warm and then the cold," said Fougere, an Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist.

• Ice OnWhyteorganizers protect sculptures from turning to puddles

Over the past four years the area experienced a range of 10-15 days of positivetemperatures in January. It's a trend that gets overshadowed by the freezing cold snaps, saidFougere.

"I think I think when people have a really cold month when these arctic air masses stick around for a really long time it affects people and you remember it for a long time. It's hard to know ifpeople's memories tend to flood towards the cold events."

Ice On Whyte is an outdoor festival featuring ice sculptures created by 10 local and international ice carvers, along with an ice bar.

Organizers are confident the warm temperatures won't be an issue for the ice sculptures. The sculptures will becovered with a tent for the second year, which was used to to protect people from cold winds.

"So the ice carvings are pristine and they were beautiful and they all stay intact the whole run of the festival," said Courtney Sidders, marketing manager of Ice On Whyte.

"The weather looks beautiful. We're so excited. It was kind of a little bit cold last year here but this year looks perfect."

Ross Baisas, a carver who is teaming up with his brother Antonio to carve a dinosaurskeleton, is a little more worried.

"In our piece there's a lot of attachments and the cold, we need it. That's for sure," Baisas said. "Of course, we'd going to have to do what we can and hope for the best."

Ice on Whyte is expected to wrap up on Sunday before returning again the next weekend.

The forecast is expected to cool off on Sunday with a low of -10 C.

@Travismcewancbc

Travis.mcewan@cbc.ca