BEACON – The Beauty of Ice Sculpting Competition scheduled for Saturday, February 11 at Scenic Hudson’s Long Dock Park in Beacon has been cancelled because of a lack of ice.

The environmental organization expected plenty of Hudson River ice in February, which could be used for the sculpting competition, but this winter has been “unusual.”  The National Climatic Data Center reports that New York’s average temperature in December was the sixth warmest December in 117 years of recordkeeping.

Scenic Hudson says while definitive figures for the first month of 2012 have yet to be released, preliminary numbers suggest it will rank among New York’s 15th warmest Januaries.

Despite the warm weather and lack of ice, Scenic Hudson still invites people to the opening reception for Mill Street Loft’s new exhibit, “Hudson River Waterfronts – Yesterday & Today,” from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the River Center.