WCRD’s chief weather forecaster predicts heavy snowfall in the Delaware County area late Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Five to nine inches of snow will fall and temperatures will be a frigid high of -10 degrees with a windchill approaching -40 degrees on Monday.
With the storm approaching as students return to Ball State, Ball State University Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications, Tony Proudfoot, confirmed that residence halls will now open early.
“In anticipation of inclement weather, which is forecast for Sunday, residence halls will open early at noon, Saturday, January 4,” Proudfoot said in an email to WCRD. “Our established practice for many year(s) has been to do all we can to continue our academic mission in case of inclement weather.”
Proudfoot said each situation is handled on a case-by-case basis. Ball State has cancelled classes in the winter for “power outages and precipitation that was so heavy or ill-timed that snow could not be cleared from parking lots and sidewalks.”
As long as the snow can be cleared, Proudfoot sees no reason for classes to be cancelled, but he would not make any decision as of Friday morning because it is too soon to tell.
“I don’t know of any time that we have closed due to cold temperatures. And it has certainly gotten this cold before,” Proudfoot said. “It’s important to distinguish a collegiate experience from primary and secondary schools. K-12 schools close due to low temperatures because they have young children waiting for buses for extended time periods. At Ball State, while it may take 10 or 15 minutes to get to class, there is a heated building every few feet and many buildings are connected.”
Shuttle bus stops are located throughout campus, and will have expanded hours on Sunday to assist students returning to campus, according to a Ball State email.
WCRD will have winter weather coverage for our listening area starting Saturday night and going into Sunday morning. The university urges students to subscribe to emergency text notifications and take action to keep safe in winter weather by returning to campus early and planning extra time to get to classes.
For more information and to stay safe throughout the storm like us on Facebook and follow WCRD, WCRDWX and @WCRDNews on twitter. Tune in to WCRD 91.3-FM or wcrd.net for extensive coverage throughout the weekend.
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