Although the phrase won’t usually mark you as the life of the party, it might be a legitimate conversation starter this season.
This winter season has broken weather records, gracing Abilene with its third white Christmas since 1914 and promising more icy weather before the end of the month.
According to the National Weather Service, a white Christmas occurs about once every 14 years; a blizzard warning – issued just this past Christmas Eve – had not been in effect since 1947.
Cody Brown, senior criminal justice major from Abilene, experienced the record-breaking weather this Christmas.
“I woke up and wasn’t expecting anything but looked outside and saw a few inches of snow,” he said. “I remember it snowing in Abilene but never so close to Christmas like this.”
Brown said he was hesitant to drive in the morning but did so later in the evening Christmas Day.
“It was bad that night; I was sliding everywhere,” he said.
According to The Weather Channel, Christmas Day was the coldest day in Abilene in December as the temperature plummeted to 15 degrees and winds screamed by at 40-50 mph. The average high for December was 51 degrees, while the average low was 30, and two more 15-degree-low days are predicted for this weekend.
Typically, the high for December is 57 degrees and the low is 34, according to accuweather.com. The temperature is expected to increase as the month progresses, but the low will hover around the mid-30s; snow and ice may still be possible this month.
However, with temperatures predicted to reach the 50s this week and the rest of the month, students constantly find themselves unprepared for the weather – even after checking the forecast.
Travis Moore, senior sociology and nursing major from Fort Worth, said he enjoys the snow and usually the winter season, but he is getting frustrated with the ever-changing weather.
“I don’t like the cold-hot,” he said. “I don’t like waking up to cold weather and walking out of Chapel to hot weather. I’d rather be hot or cold.”
According to the Weather Channel, students can expect showers, a high of 55 and a low of 34 on Saturday and mostly sunny skies with a high of 62 and a low of 41 on Sunday.
