April 11–17, 2007, Number 439
My friends (left to right) Danny, Kacy, and Nick stand near a pile of snow on campus.
Winter Wonderland in April
Just over a week ago Michigan Tech was enjoying beautiful spring weather. Students were walking to class in shorts and T-shirts. All over campus, students were outside playing ultimate frisbee and football. The flowers were starting to bloom around campus and the once menacing mounds of snow were reduced to puddles and slush.
This picture of Michigan Tech changed suddenly on Tuesday, April 3. The temperatures dropped from the mid fifties to the high twenties almost overnight. The rain started to turn to snow, which formed slush on the warm ground. Soon, snow started to build up on the slushy base. By Thursday night, April 5, approximately 20 inches of snow had fallen and piled up. Many parents have been watching this on the Michigan Tech webcams. My friends and I were wondering if this was a freak occurrence or if this much snow is normal in April. Looking at the Michigan Tech snowfall records, snow in April is not a new thing. According to the records, the snowiest April occurred in the 1949-1950 school year with 28 inches. Of course, the recorded amounts of snow are for the entire month. The National Weather Service reported that by Sunday, April 8, Houghton received 31 inches of snow in less than a week. All snow that comes during the rest of the month is just adding to a new record. The amount of snow received in the surrounding area can be found here.
We had to remember January rules, in April, for driving and dressing warm enough for blustery walks.
Most students were upset about the snow after having so much warm weather. Some students are still not very accepting of the snow, but my friends and I have come to enjoy it. It gives a last opportunity to do some skiing, snowshoeing, and sledding. On a side note, Mount Bohemia was able to open back up for some skiing. This was a very short ski season for them, so they are happy with the large amount of snow. They will be open through this weekend.
Storage Units
Several parents have emailed me asking about storage in the Houghton area. Many students use local storage units so they don’t have to take all of their furniture, appliances, and non-necessities back home. There are several places that have storage units in the Houghton area. I simply searched the yellow pages and the companies I found are listed here.
I have used a storage unit over the summer every year I have been at Michigan Tech. I also share the unit with one or two other students. This makes the unit cheaper since the cost is split several ways.
Michigan Tech also has very limited storage for over the summer months in the residence halls. To qualify for this, students have to be at least 500 miles away from Tech, as the crow flies, not how many miles it takes to drive to Michigan Tech. The student also needs to be returning to the residence halls the next semester.
If there are ever any topics that you feel should be addressed, please send me a personal email and I will try my best to include them in my future articles.
Until next week,
- Michigan Technological University
- 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931-1295
- 906-487-1885