Photo by Andrew Norsworthy
On Nov. 11, students greeted Veteran’s Day with gusty winds and chilly temperatures that are projected to sink down below freezing before the next day.
The temperature in the late afternoon sunk to 30 degrees and coupled with strong winds up to 41 miles per hour created a wind chill of only 15 degrees.
Dr. Phil Schubert, president of ACU, said, “I don’t like the cold and I don’t like winds where they are over 40 miles per hour and we’ve got both today.”
Jaden Roberts, sophomore nursing major from Corinth, said, “[I’m] running to class. It’s terribly cold.”
Seth Spears, sophomore information systems major from Bossier City, La., said, “Honestly, kind of nice. Just layer up.”
At this time, the weather is not expected to impact road conditions or otherwise impact safety of the community and city as there is no significant accumulation of ice or snow that can threaten travel. Classes are also expected to continue despite the frigid conditions as any precipitation is not expected to accumulate on roads.
Jimmy Ellison, ACU Police Chief, said, “It’s not as much related to temperature as much as it is: do we have any kind of freezing rain or icy roadways or snow and ice accumulations that are affecting traveling safety.”
The ACU Police Department is monitoring weather conditions and works very closely with the City of Abilene PD and with TXDOT to monitor road conditions locally and regionally to feed current and accurate information for ACU to make any decisions based upon the weather. Students can expect an alert in the early morning hours if there is any change.
Abilene continues to stay under a wind advisory that is lasting until 9 p.m. Freezing rain will end and clouds will gradually clear overnight. The following day is projected to have temperature rise to 43 degrees with sunny skies.
“It’s a great reminder that the weather in west Texas is really volatile.” Schubert said. ”We’ve got amazing things about Abilene, Texas, but we have to endure the volatility of the weather in November and today is a great example. It pushes us all inside to enjoy the community and the warmth that comes with it.”
