A snowman was built next to the Auditorium along the Red Cedar River walkway yesterday. The wet snow made it easy to make creations such as this.
While some students probably left for classes Monday groaning about the return of snow, international student Absar Qazi relished his first encounter with wintry weather.
“I was outside this morning playing in the snow and all these graduate students were looking at me,” said Qazi, a human resource management graduate student from India.
With the exception of jacketless Qazi, who was decked out in a suit and tie for a presentation, students in East Lansing bundled up Monday to shield themselves from the first big snowfall on campus.
“It’s a little later than usual,” said Walt Felver, meteorologist at the Grand Rapids forecast office of the National Weather Service.
Although the snow held off until late November, Felver expects Lansing to receive about 55 inches of snowfall this winter, which is considered average for the area.
The snow East Lansing experienced Monday isn’t forecast to return until Wednesday night or Thursday, according to the Grand Rapids forecast office of the National Weather Service.
Still, East Lansing police reported that Monday’s snow didn’t create much of a problem for roads.
“The snow (that fell Monday) isn’t sticking to the roads,” East Lansing police Sgt. Carl Nowak said.
“The icy roads would cause the accidents.”
Salt trucks were making their rounds Monday to get rid of the snow before it had a chance to freeze, Nowak said.
Now that winter conditions have arrived, Felver recommends taking certain precautions before traveling, such as storing a blanket, nonperishable food, a shovel and candles in the trunk of a vehicle.
“Chances are you won’t have to use it, but it’s there,” Felver said.
“A lot of bad things can happen, even if you don’t want them to.”
Felver said keeping these items in the trunk can come in handy if someone is in an accident or gets stuck in a rural area, especially students driving home for the holidays.
Guy Sibley, a junior at Lansing Community College, has lived in the Lansing area his entire life.
Even though preparing for the cold weather is just second nature, he would prefer a warmer climate.
“It’s not a big deal, it’s sort of normal,” Sibley said about the precipitation. “The weather sucks, though. It’s the bane of my existence.”
Reporters Brian McVicar and Jacob Carpenter contributed to this report.
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