When the first day of the semester is cut short by a cancellation due to snow and ice, you know the semester is going to be dotted by lots of days stuck inside. But how many more days like this can we expect going forward? How much will we need to prepare for long periods of dorm seclusion? In this roundtable, the Life section seeks to do the work of weather researchers and meteorologists. Let’s see what they have to say.
Ben Lassy LE he/him
I have never had a less satisfying first day of school than this past Tuesday. With the snow cancellation going into effect at 2:00 p.m. and my class scheduled at the same time, I felt so strange heading back home and doing nothing for the rest of the day. A first day is supposed to start you off on a good note, not a night spent lazing around waiting to fall asleep.
As a consequence of that experience, I am now anti-snow day and despite troublesome weather patterns, I’m firmly hoping that we have relatively few this semester. I’d place the optimal number around four, preferably scattered on Mondays across the whole semester. This would give us a few three-day-weekends — or four-day weekends for those lucky fellows who have Fridays off.
When the four snow days inevitably come, stay safe and warm out there, UConn!
James Fitzpatrick SW he/him
How would students possibly be able to persevere through the winter semester without snow days? Returning from a restorative break, the prospect of committing to another semester in this miserable weather is daunting.
Snow days are a necessary evil, but as with anything, too many can be detrimental. As it’s my first semester on the Storrs campus, I have yet to have a class canceled due to snow, as my schedule managed to dodge the early closing and late opening last week. Given the slush on the streets and sidewalks during those days, I am questioning whether the decision-makers are trying to cut back on snow days this year. It would’ve been a win-win to cancel that first day entirely because the introduction week would’ve been extended and we wouldn’t have had to trudge our feet on a day we were already dreading.
If the conditions are too poor to bike in, that’s a good sign that the majority of students shouldn’t be walking in said conditions. Therefore, how many snow days will we receive? It will probably be several, but how many should we get? Hopefully, we’ll be able to count the days on one hand.
Kekoa Krautkramer CC she/her/hers
As a student whose sleep schedule would benefit from a surplus of snow days, of course I would want to guess on the higher end. Unfortunately, in the past few winters, snowfall has barely surpassed an inch or two. Nonetheless, Storrs has already been hit with frigid temperatures and a couple of intense snowstorms and it’s only been a few weeks into the new year. Weather in the northeast is always a surprise but I predict that UConn will have three snow days including the one from the first day of classes.
My estimate is fairly generous when taking into account the amount of snow days we received last spring semester. It’s hard to tell how lenient UConn will be when deciding if the amount of snowfall warrants a day off, considering we endured the snow for hours the first week until the administration let us go home. I think the bigger problem at hand would be rain turning snow into ice and causing delays or cancellations. Does that still count as a “snow day,” though?
Desirae Sin SW she/her
As much as I’d love to experience another day where I wake up early to an email saying there are no classes, I’m also realistic and pragmatic. I say that there will be no more snow days at UConn. Not just because we technically haven’t had a fully canceled day due to snow yet, but also because of our favorite topic — global warming. I don’t see Connecticut getting more than a few inches of snow in the future. Sure, it’s freezing cold, but that hasn’t stopped the UConn administration from making us trek through the elements to get to a class that’s only 50 minutes long.
The problem for me is that some days are below freezing, but on days when it’s not too cold, it starts to rain. We likely won’t see snow for a while, and if we do, it’ll be in very minor flurries. In the first week of classes for the semester, we didn’t even have a real snow day, just cancellations and delays that didn’t amount to much because UConn parking services decided to start shoveling and salting roads when students had to go back to classes.
Patrick Boots CC he/him
It’s hard to tell how many snow days we’ll be getting this year due to the changing climate. In previous years, holiday blizzards, heavy wintry mix and March flurries have all contributed to snow days. Recently, Winter Storm Aspen showed that winter is still in full force.
My official guess: 10 total snow days. But as always, countless unofficial snow days tucked within the semester will see students savoring cozy mornings indoors, the siren song of a winter wonderland luring them under warm blankets (instead of going to that morning class). Only time — and the meteorologists — will tell what Old Man Winter throws at the Huskies next!