As students rolled out of bed Thursday morning, they were greeted with a blanket of snow covering the area and hopes of cancelled classes — but most were left wishing.
“My roommate woke me up to see the snow — at 6 a.m. for some odd reason,” Mattias Davidsson, a sophomore in business management, said.
Unfortunately for Davidsson, the snow did not lead to cancelled classes, but it did lead to some photo opportunities.
“I took some pretty good photos of the Bell Tower right before my 10 a.m. class,” Davidsson said. “I do a lot of Photoshop and graphic stuff with photography, and if something looks cool, like the Bell Tower did, I try to get a photo of it.”
Thursday’s snow dusting came as a stark contrast to the warm weekend for students.
“There has been a huge buildup of cold Canadian air,” Gary Lackmann, a professor of marine earth and atmospheric sciences, said. “It has resulted in some very unusual weather nationwide — it even snowed some in Los Angeles [Wednesday].”
But Lackmann was quick to note that this time of year is known for back-and-forth temperatures.
“Anomalous weather with the warmth preceding very cold temperatures is natural to this time and we can get large variations of temperature,” Lackmann said.
Students such as Davidsson made use of the dusting that hit the Triangle.
Ransom Jameson, a senior in technology education, took the trucks off his skateboard, and turned it into a small snowboard, he said.
Sliding down the amphitheater between Bragaw Residence Hall and Lee Residence Hall, Jameson said he and some his friends took advantage of this opportunity.
“I had a church meeting with two of my friends at 7 [a.m.] and it was just starting to snow then, so it was fresh,” Jameson said.
The snow caught Jameson off guard, he said, as most of the weather reports Wednesday night called for sleet.
“When I got outside I said, ‘that’s not sleet, that’s snow,'” Jameson said. “I got to see the whole thing.”
According to Lackmann, the extreme variations in temperature should slow down for the next couple of weeks.
“There’s been a large-scale shift in the weather pattern, but in a week or two, we should be getting into more seasonable weather and up into the 60’s,” Lackmann said. “I don’t see much of an opportunity for more snow.”
Lackmann said he thought Sunday, Jan. 21 could produce sleet or snow, but his prediction may be changing.
“There had been a system coming through Sunday that could bring sleet,” Lackmann said. “But it’s looking like it should just stay cool for the rest of the week.”