What do folks think about this weird winter weather? – North Country Public Radio
Feb 27, 2024 —
This winter has been the third warmest in 25 years and North Country residents are starting to notice. We caught up with people at three universities in St. Lawrence County to hear how they are making sense of the unusual weather.
Naveen Reddy is a graduate student at Clarkson University from Andhra Pradesh, India, who is not yet used to the North Country winters.
“This was our first snowfall environment which we visited. The first month, when it started falling snow, we were enjoying it,” he said.
“Now we are facing some trouble while walking on the roads when it was slippery. The rest of everything looks good. But we are not used to this kind of coldness.”
Richard Haller is a sophomore at SUNY Canton. He’s from Dekalb Junction in St. Lawrence County and thinks the weather has become unpredictable.
“I feel like I can never plan anything,” he said. “I don’t even know if there’s going to be snow, which is not something I would have worried about a few years ago.”
Jonathan Hoose, an electrician at Clarkson and a North Country native, agrees that this winter is milder than the ones he grew up with.
“A lot less snow. I guess it’s been nice,” said Hoose. “My kids play hockey, and we usually will be able to skate outside earlier than we have been this year. The ice obviously hasn’t been very good for outdoor activities,” he said.
Hoose said it’s easier to get to his children’s games with the milder weather.
“I haven’t had to put my studded tires on,” he said.
A milder winter is welcome in some ways for Kimberly Gomez, too, but still it’s worrisome. She’s a Clarkson student from Long Island and grew up with a lot more snow in the City.
“There’s not as much snow anymore. The grass is coming out which is kind of scary because I grew up sledding and with snowball fights and snowmen,” she said. “I remember the last spring semester I was here, it was negative for weeks.”
If Lexi Lee—a sophomore at St. Lawrence University from Manhattan— had her way, she says we’d have a white Christmas, a good ski season, then spring would start in April.
“I’m unfortunately familiar with the phenomenon of the late April snowstorm. [It] absolutely sucks,” Lee said. “I would be a great Snow Miser, in my opinion. I would make sure that winter ends at an appropriate time.”
Ben Cabot wants good ski conditions, too. He’s a sophomore at St. Lawrence University from Stowe, Vermont.
“Skiing has been really good and then really bad. It’s been very cold and then very warm. Right now we’re in a lull, it’s melting. We haven’t seen the sun for a little while.”
“Maybe it’s because I’ve been getting taller over my 20 years, but I really feel like the snow has been going down in recent years. With all the talk about climate change, I can’t help but think that it has something to do with it,” said Cabot. “I’m just hoping that in February we get the normal huge dump that we usually do in the north.”
