Record heat across much of the U.S. means October-like temperatures and crushes hopes of an early winter wonderland. Temperatures are also turning Ice Castles winter parks back into puddles.
Ice Castles builds winter wonderlands across six states in the northern tier. The fantasy-like ice caverns, thrones, slides and sculptures wow crowds from around the world. But they are all having a slow start this December.
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Each of the parks covers about an acre and is made up of about 25 million pounds of ice, according to the company. Every day, about 20 builders in each park grow 5,000 to 12,000 icicles, harvest them by hand and sculpt them into the ice formations with the help of snow and water spray.
Sharp ice pics, chainsaws and chisels allow builders to create slides, chairs and tunnels. They freeze LED lights into the creations for color and light. The castles rise 20-feet tall.
“In August, September we start bringing in our equipment, our storage units, our shop, and laying all of the irrigation and electrical and then we wait for the cold weather,” founder Brent Christensen told FOX 13.
But the cold temperatures are lacking in Utah, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Colorado, causing the icy bases, igloos and icicle structures to melt.
“This coming weekend hopefully we’ll start growing the castles again and then we’ll just see how the weather holds and if it stays cold we’ll just keep growing,” he continued talking about the Utah park in Midway. “We need about 4 weeks of solid cold weather.”
The winter wonderland takes a little imagination. These photos show a previous year’s Ice Castle in Utah then the scene this week.
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Temperatures are 20 to 30 degrees warmer than average. Twenty-two cities across the Plains and Midwest could break record high temperatures on Thursday.
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On Saturday, FOX Weather forecasts 243 million Americans will be feeling the heat as the warm pool of air slides east. That will mean the New Hampshire and New York Ice Castles are in jeopardy, too.
Winter Realms, the park in Wisconsin run by Ice Castles, told FOX 6 that they hope to open in January if the weather cooperates. Last year, the park was only open for three days. Tickets are non-refundable, so keep watching FOX Weather to find out when winter will finally take hold.
Here is a tour of Ice Castles in Utah from 2022.
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