Kenny Wilburn had no plans to go out Thursday night because of his Friday classes, but the Ball State sophomore said if he could leave his books behind he would still pass on the opportunity.
"If I could go out (Thursday night) I wouldn't - just because it's too cold," Wilburn said.
Wilburn, along with other students, faced some of the coldest temperatures of the season Thursday. The highest temperature was 13 degrees at 12:53 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.
The temperatures dropped throughout the day after that. By 7 a.m. temperatures had dipped to 1 degree below zero and the wind felt like 17 degrees below zero.
"This is definitely not normal," said geography professor Robert Schwartz.
Normally, Schwartz said, temperatures during January range from 16 to 32 degrees. The recent frigid weather has been caused by jet streams.
"It's a barrier between cold northern air and warm southern air," Schwartz said.
The core of the jet stream has moved farther south, he said, which has caused colder air from the north to move into Indiana. Warmer air is trying to move into the state, but the jet stream is blocking it.
The frigid weather shouldn't last too much longer, Schwartz said. By Tuesday, temperatures should be in the upper 20s.
Until then, students will have to continue battling the cold.
One way students do so is by catching a ride on a shuttle bus. One shuttle bus driver said when the weather turns cold, she finds more students waiting along McKinley Avenue to get a ride.
"There's a lot more," the driver said. "But the thing is, these buses only hold so many."
The buses hold between 30 and 40 people. Because so many want to get on the bus, not everyone fits. Drivers sometimes have to leave students behind.
That's why Wilburn said he avoids taking the shuttle.
"You got to wait for it to come, and that's just wasting time standing in the cold," Wilburn said. "I walk fast - the quicker I get (to class) the sooner I can get out of this."
Hot drinks are also a popular way students deal with the weather, said Starbucks employee Kari Miller.
"When classes let out we get a line back to the door," Miller said.
Most customers order a mocha, a hot drink that contains espresso and chocolate, she said.
Winter business is comparable to business in the summer, Miller said, but most order warm drinks in the winter and chilled beverages during summer.
Students aren't the only ones who deal with the weather. Ball State landscape workers sometimes have to work out in the cold.
On Thursday, most landscape workers were assigned to indoor jobs, Mike Planton, superintendent of grounds, said.
But a few had to work outside. Four of the workers had to remove trees from around power lines in Scheidler Apartments and others had to pick up trash around dumpsters.
For those who worked outside, Planton said efforts are made to keep them warm. Landscape services provides workers with insulated coveralls and workers rotate in and out of a warm truck.
"We also encourage them to drink a lot of fluid, but not coffee," Planton said.
Caffeine takes some heat out of the body, Schwartz said.
Schwartz suggests dressing in layers and covering all extremities for those who have to venture outdoors.
"You can get frost bite in 10 to 20 minutes," Schwartz said.
Until temperatures warm up, Schwartz advised against going outside at all. But a chance does exist that the forecasts are wrong, meaning the frigid streak could continue.
"At this point we're not looking at another deep freeze," Schwartz said. "But that doesn't mean it can't happen."
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