I think your temperature assumption is fair. This guy's igloo building experiments (http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/winter/igloo.html) seem to indicate that above-freezing temps make the structure start to collapse.
Another factor to consider: why was Caroline giving birth in a barn? She must have been traveling. Would she be traveling while near-term in dangerous weather? Probably not. To me, that indicates a birth in late fall, before snow really kicked in, but I have no idea what a Fraser would consider "safe traveling conditions", as they are notoriously crazy *g* We also don't know where she was at the time of Fraser's birth - it could be someplace with considerably warmer weather, where snow starts accumulating in November rather than September (see snow depth numbers from the climate site).
no subject
I think your temperature assumption is fair. This guy's igloo building experiments (http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/winter/igloo.html) seem to indicate that above-freezing temps make the structure start to collapse.
Another factor to consider: why was Caroline giving birth in a barn? She must have been traveling. Would she be traveling while near-term in dangerous weather? Probably not. To me, that indicates a birth in late fall, before snow really kicked in, but I have no idea what a Fraser would consider "safe traveling conditions", as they are notoriously crazy *g* We also don't know where she was at the time of Fraser's birth - it could be someplace with considerably warmer weather, where snow starts accumulating in November rather than September (see snow depth numbers from the climate site).