As predicted, it starts snowing in Madison around 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 18. Forecasters are expecting between three and five inches overnight but Yuriy Gusev, co-founder of Madison’s Winter Festival, isn’t taking any chances.

Gusev says that when it comes to making snow for winter sports, humans have improved on Mother Nature. So two weeks before the winter festival, he’s out at Elver Park, monitoring the city’s snowmaking equipment as it sprays artificial snow onto a mound that, after 15 hours, is 5 feet tall, 50 feet long and 30 feet wide.