MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Ice carvers are working around the clock to finish their entries at the 126th annual St. Paul Winter Carnival.

The warmer than average weather Thursday meant carvers couldn’t work on their pieces until after the sun went down.

Thursday’s high temperature was 40 degrees. Friday morning temperatures were in the teens.

Carvers working Friday morning at Rice Park had been crafting through the night since they have only 48 hours to finish their pieces.

“It’s a castle with the dragon coming out of the window,” said one of the ice carvers, known as Buzz amongst ice-sculpting circles.

Each group is given a limited number of 300-pound ice blocks to use. Many competitors chose to cover the blocks in cardboard to keep them from melting.

“That’s one of the first things … before you can even start carving you have to construct it. You try to do that with block management. So many over here, So many over there,” said Buzz.

The competition started Thursday morning and the entries will be judged Saturday morning.

Click here to see more Winter Carnival events.