Students react to the extreme weather caused by polar vortex


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Students catch up on homework during their day off on Jan. 30 in Charles V. Park Library. The Library's 24-hour Extended Hours Study Room remained open during the University's closure.

After Central Michigan University called third snow day this week, students hunkered inside their dorms as extreme winter conditions ravaged Michigan.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency due to extreme cold on Monday this week and schools across Michigan called off multiple days in response. People were even urged to keep their thermostats at or below 65 degrees or less through Friday evening to make sure there is enough energy to go around, Whitmer said in a press conference.

A “polar vortex surge” has swept over large parts of the Midwest. John Allen, an assistant professor of meteorology at CMU, said the polar vortex refers to a constant ring-shaped jet stream that moves around the Earth’s poles. This keeps the cold air around the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

But sometimes the flow weakens, the arctic vortex pushes cold air southward and into continental United States. This creates the extreme air and windchill temperatures seen this week.

“We’re seeing extremely low temperatures associated with (the polar vortex),” Allen said. “We are seeing wind chills that are some of the most impressive we’ve seen over the continent at least in the past couple of decades.”


Courtesy of NOAA


The vortex is not a new phenomenon and was coined a few years ago, Allen said. While Mount Pleasant is slighter warmer compared to other parts of the Midwest, people should still take precautions when walking outside by dressing in layers and limiting time spent outside, he said.

The resulting weather from the vortex surge has taken an effect on student life. Scottsville junior Katelyn Allen said the heat in her dorm room in Kesseler Hall has not been consistent with staying on.

“We have it turned all the way up, but it turns on and off constantly,” Katelyn said. “I’ve called maintenance and they’ve checked it out, but they never really said anything.”

Detroit freshman Miracle Berry also said the vents in the hallways of the towers were blowing cold air. While the vent in her dorm room was producing warm air, she said the warm air was not circulating throughout her room.

Some students did venture outside on Monday before the school called off on Monday. Canton freshman Tacoya Williams went to class at 8 a.m. before CMU called off school.

“It was unfair,” Williams said. “Nothing was plowed yet, and it was still snowing.”

Novi junior Spencer Betts said he wanted to stay productive during the days off. To quell his boredom, he put on multiple layers of clothing and trekked across campus from the towers to the Verizon store to get his cell phone fixed.

Berry and Betts suggest that students should spend some of their time off getting caught up on school work and even getting ahead of their class syllabi. CMU should add an extra week of classes at the end of the semester to make up for lost school days, Betts said.

“I know that (adding a week) is going to put people off but if we don’t have that extra week, we will definitely be behind on other subjects,” Betts said.

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