Ball State University is operating as scheduled today as a winter storm warning remains in effect through noon Wednesday for much of Central Indiana, including Muncie.
The National Weather Service said the area should see a relative slowing of snow this afternoon, but it is expected to return tonight.
The Muncie area could get as much as 8 more inches of snow. Significant blowing and drifting could cause problems as wind gusts are expected to reach about 30 mph.
No classes were canceled as of Monday evening, but students' plans for a possible snow day had already been brewing.
Sophomore landscape architecture student Corri Greschaw is from Michigan, where snow storms are more common. For Greschaw, snowball fights and sledding are among the things she would do.
"I like snow; it makes me feel at home," she said.
Kevin Kenyon, associate vice president of Facilities Planning & Management, said the criteria for closing Ball State depends whether emergency exits and parking lots are clean by the time classes start.
"Unless it's really impossible for us to clean these areas, then we don't close the school," he said.
Ball State grounds department started clearing parking lots and sidewalks on campus this morning, Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications Tony Proudfoot said.
Although Ball State facilities expects 6 to 9 inches of snow throughout the night and day, facilities will go through its regular routine, Kenyon said.
"We're not planning to do anything exceptional," he said. "Crew members will go off at 4 a.m., cleaning roads and sidewalks."
Kenyon said his main concern was how the larger amounts of blowing snow would affect cleaning Tuesday night.
"It's hard to predict an impact for Wednesday morning," he said. "There's nothing we can do to prepare us more at this time."
Ball State University canceled classes Jan. 28, 2009, after the amount of snow falling increased rapidly before classes at 8 a.m.
Proudfoot said last year facilities did not expect the sudden increase of snow.
"We got dumped on right before classes started," he said. "It looked like would be able to keep up with the snow, but then it came in a fashion that was contradictory to what was predicted, based on the information at the time."
Another snow storm occurred in 2007, when about 11 inches covered the campus streets and parking lots.
"It was like a zoo," Kenyon said.
For sophomore nursing major Janelle Wertz, a snow cancellation would mean more sleep hours for her.
"I hate snow," she said. "I actually think it's really annoying."
The weather service recommends commuters keep an extra flashlight, food and water in their vehicles in case of emergency.
Local media reports Monday night listed more than two dozen school delays and cancellations across East Central Indiana even before the snow arrived.
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