Snowman building competitions and snowball fights pressed on in front of dark University buildings on a frigid Wednesday after a blanket of ice and snow covered Auburn University from brick to oak tree.
Students and community members took over Samford Lawn, Cater Lawn and the streets of downtown Auburn, kicking up snow on their day off. The University canceled normal operations Tuesday evening starting at 6 p.m. and remained closed Wednesday.
Starting around 9 p.m. on Tuesday night, snow fell on The Plains, amounting to 2-3 inches in total — as reported by the National Weather Service.
Reid Thackerson,
“I love snow,” Thackerson said. “I pretty much haven’t stopped making snowballs since I have been out here. I don’t have the chance to do this very often.”
Thackerson said he sticks with snowball fights now, after attempting to build a snowman and ending up with a “snow-
Temperatures remained below freezing on Wednesday, allowing most of the snow to remain — perfect conditions for Thackerson. While roads cleared up in some areas, patches of black ice remain in many shaded areas. Melted snow is expected to freeze again overnight.
The National Weather Service reported the roads difficult or impossible to drive on early Tuesday morning with significant snowfall the night before.
The snow and closing did not come as a surprise, as Gov. Kay Ivey issued a State of Emergency that took effect at 6 p.m. on Monday. Along with the University closing, Auburn City and Opelika City Schools told students to stay home.
Jake Houston, junior in mechanical engineering, said this year had doubled the number of times he had seen snow in his lifetime. Several inches of snow transcended on Auburn on Dec. 8–9, just after finals.
Houston was in the middle of an intense snowman building competition, pitting the women against the men. The women, leading with two, well-formed balls of snow, had not decided what to name their new friend.
“I think we want to see what it looks like and feel it out — see what it’s personality is like before we give it a name,” Houston said. “One of the girls is really good at making snowmen. We are trying to steal her technique.”
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