If current predictions are accurate, the weather should cooperate enough to allow construction of this year's Winter Carnival snow sculpture to proceed without incident, according to WNNE-TV meteorologist Tom Hoyt.
In past years, construction has been plagued by mid-winter thaws but Hoyt said this year the sculpture construction effort "should be in good shape."
The sculpture -- of a mounted knight battling a dragon -- is expected to be about 35 feet high, including a 15-foot lance in the hands of the mounted knight, according to Chris Aslin '97, sculpture co-chair. The bulk of the sculpture, however, will be about 20 to 25 feet high.
The base will be approximately 25 feet long, including the dragon, which will be on the ground in front of the knight.
Historically, Hoyt said, there has been a mid-winter thaw sometime in late January or early February which lasts three or four days.
"That thaw could well be this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday," he said. "After that, things should return to normal."
Hoyt defined "normal" as temperatures in the upper 20s during the day and in the teens at night.
Aslin said thus far the construction is ahead of schedule.
"It's looking a lot better than the last two years," he said. "We've had enough cold weather and snow at this point to get going."
Aslin said the early success has been due to a high student turnout.
"We've had a lot of really enthusiastic freshmen out this year," he said. "They've made our jobs a lot easier."
Aslin said the sculpture co-chairs are confident that the sculpture will be completed on time.
"If it gets to a week before and we have a serious thaw, we'll worry," he said. "At this point, if it were to thaw for a week, we could make it up and finish in time."
However, Aslin said more snow can only help.
"It would be nice to have more snow, but it's not crucial," he said.
Although there is no snow forecasted for the next week, Hoyt said temperatures should be low enough for snow if a storm comes.
The sculpture goes along with the theme for the 1997 Winter Carnival -- "'Twas a Cold and Snowy Knight: A Medieval Carnival."
