After a week of unseasonably high temperatures, wintry weather returned with gusto in time for Super Bowl weekend. Although the effects of the storm were not as serious as some Kansas has experienced in the past, the freezing temperatures, up to 20 mile-per-hour winds, rain, ice and snow were enough to interfere with people’s plans for traveling.
For some, these changes meant returning to Manhattan earlier than anticipated.
“We (my friends and I) were supposed to stay in my hometown until 5 (p.m.), but because the weather was so bad the Super Bowl party we were planning on going to was canceled and we came back to campus early,” Madison Blevins, freshman in agricultural communications, said.
Students hoping to drive Sunday were met with iced-over cars, windshield wipers frozen to windshields and car doors iced shut. Those who opted to walk had to bundle up to protect themselves from wind chills of zero degrees and lower, and had to watch their step to avoid slipping and falling on icy sidewalks.
“My friends and I were going to go eat at Buffalo Wild Wings, but because of the weather instead we decided to hang out in our dorm and ordered pizza while we watched the game,” Abby Basham, freshman in criminal psychology, said.
Not all travelers faced weather difficulties, though.
“I drove home (Saturday) so I had to drive back (Sunday), but the weather wasn’t an issue except for having to get gas in the cold,” Emily Writer, junior in agricultural communications, said.
Although temperatures were below freezing in Manhattan and in the northern portion of the U.S., spectators of the Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona experienced temperatures in the 60s.
In true Kansas style, according to weather.com, Manhattan will experience more temperature fluctuations throughout the upcoming week. Monday will see temperatures of 32 F and lower and winds up to 20 miles per hour. The temperature on Tuesday will reach as high as 50 F Tuesday, followed by temperatures in the low 20s F and a 60 percent chance of snow Wednesday.
