Wacky Winter Weather
The winter weather has been especially strange all across Illinois this year.
Despite predictions in November that we were going to have an average winter, it’s been oddly warm; until now, that is. Suddenly, on January 20th, the temperature dropped, leaving those of us still optimistically wearing shorts to bundle up.
Although the snow usually keeps it down a little bit, temperatures this year have been about 6 degrees above normal as of January 25, and the trend appears to be continuing.
Experts say that the warm winter and lack of heavy snowfall is due to a weather phenomenon called arctic oscillation. Arctic oscillation has to do with a ring of heavy winds around the arctic. When those winds are strong, very little cold air escapes the arctic, meaning that winters in Canada, the United Kingdom, and parts of the United States are warmer.
James Auten, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, says that the warm weather has turned the snow we should be getting into rain. “We’re seeing normal precipitation,” Auten said, “We’re just not getting the snow.”
But the cold snap has everybody puzzled. It came out of nowhere, dropping around 30 degrees almost overnight. “The weather is bipolar,” said Urbana High School Freshman Lincoln Taylor.
The sudden chill has even forced some people who would normally walk to school year-round to drive instead. “It’s too cold,” said Sophia Paquin-Brown, a UHS Freshman, “My mom says ‘If you’re outside for more than five minutes your skin is going to freeze.’”
Fortunately, the weather hasn’t had much effect on school otherwise.
“Students and staff have a certain mindset, which is that it’s winter,” said UHS Science Teacher Gerasimoula Kokkosis, “I don’t know that it affects school except that people are getting sick.”
Whether you like the winter or not, we probably won’t be seeing too much more of it. If past years are anything to go by, the summer while be plenty long and hot, so enjoy the cool weather while it lasts.
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