As temperatures nosedived into negative double digits last Monday, leaving blistered faces and numb fingers in its path, Syracuse arose from its quiet slumber.

Last week’s bout of clement weather had many people wondering when – or whether – Old Man Winter would unleash his wrath. As the conditions quickly turned from balmy to blustery, new fears arouse of an artic blast long overdue.

‘I just pray it doesn’t get worse,’ said Tara Ryan, a junior television, radio and film major and Syracuse resident. ‘Last Thursday it was 60 degrees outside. A year [ago] from that day my pipes were completely froze over.’

Ryan is not alone in her plea. Other Syracuse University students, faculty members and community residents hope to benefit from the economic and safety advantages stemming from a delay of winter weather.

The city’s winter season displayed its weakest side last Thursday when temperatures soared to 64 degrees, tying a record set in 1995. The snow accumulation as of yesterday was 31 inches, which is only a small fraction of the180 inches that fell last year.

‘The weather all over the country has been ridiculously out of the norm,’ said Amanda Musolino, a junior inclusive education major. ‘I live in Minnesota, where it’s always cold and snowy, so it was definitely nice to come back to 60 degree weather last week.’

The warmer-than-expected early winter was not caused by environmental disturbances such as El Nino or global warming, but simply a weather pattern that can’t be attributed to anything local, said Wayne Mahar, a chief meteorologist at WSTM Channel 3. Until last week, a colder jet stream was up north, leaving all of the cold air in Canada, he said.

‘That’s just the way the jet stream pattern is this year,’ Mahar said.

Many upperclassmen who have experienced more than one Syracuse winter consider this year’s to be of the tamest, allowing them to benefit from their resistance to frigid weather.

‘It’s easier to wake up in the morning, and the weather does not hinder me from going to class,’ said Amanda Neals, a senior biology major who called this winter the mildest she has experienced here.

Another student, sophomore finance major Michael Ho, contracted bronchitis last year after an unsuccessful adjustment to the elements of a typical Syracuse winter.

‘This year it’s easier to adapt because it’s been a lot warmer, and now I know what to wear,’ said Ho.

Although warmer temperatures would ensure greater physical wellness and safety, it is a nuisance for students who enjoy seeing snow, playing winter sports or dressing for cold weather.

‘Last semester was so annoying because I wanted to wear sweaters and other winter stuff and I couldn’t,’ Neals said. ‘I felt like I was wearing capris forever.’

Out in the Syracuse community, the lack of harsh winter conditions is more of a blessing than a hindrance, reducing the cost of road supplies such as salt and helping to cut costs by eliminating the overtime budget for snow plow drivers, said Jeff Wright, deputy commissioner for the Department of Public Works. The budget cost for rock salt in December 2004 was $200,000 less than that of 2005, Wright said. Although the reduced need for maintenance allows for improvements in the budget, problems sometimes stem from better road conditions.

‘We now have challenges unrelated to ice control, like finding enough jobs for people who usually work on the snow plows,’ Wright said.

Another problem is that when there is snow on the roads, people are more likely to get into accidents because they are not used to it, according to Mahar.

‘I hate driving in the snow.’ Ryan said. ‘Two years ago I got into a bad accident because of the conditions. Right now it’s so much easier to drive and get between classes.’

But with such less snow and ice, the cost of human lives has also been drastically reduced as well.

The snow is going to get worse before it gets better, Mahar says, although he predicted the amount of snow that will fall is beyond foresight.

‘My educated guess is that it will be below the normal average of 120 inches,’ he said, ‘but we’re definitely going to get more snow.’

Published on January 19, 2005 at 12:00 pm