This was one of those storms - conditions still good enough to hold classes, but bad enough to send students sliding across campus.
Senior Michal Knappenberger had to defrost her car for 40 minutes before driving to campus Wednesday morning. She had even more trouble after parking her car.
"I slid down the stairs at the commuter lot like a slide," she said. "I knew I wasn't going to be able to walk down them."
The storm that spanned 2,000 miles across the nation resulted in more than 86,800 power outages around Indiana on Wednesday. Today's forecast called for a 40 percent chance of snow showers overnight, wind chill values as low as -2 degrees and gusts as high as 20 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
A special weather statement from the NWS warns that untreated surfaces may continue to be slick and icy for several days. Temperatures will remain below freezing through at least Friday.
At Ball State, classes after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and before 11 a.m. Wednesday were canceled. Grounds crews worked 16-hour shifts Wednesday, and students took extra caution, holing up in their residence hall rooms, charging electronics and traveling slowly outside when it was necessary.
Other students took advantage having some of their classes closed and brought sleds or borrowed food trays to slide on the north side of Woodworth Complex.
The decision to cancel classes for part of Wednesday morning was made by Vice President of Business Affairs Randy Howard and other campus officials.
Kevin Kenyon, vice president of Facilities Planning and Management, said the grounds crews continued to chip away at the ice, even though it was slow going.
"There is no question that there are several pathways that are not in good shape and probably won't be for a day or more," he said.
For Kelly Nelson, the storm was a bit of a shock. The freshman telecommunications major said she wasn't used to seeing so much snow.
"It's really cold, colder than I expected it to be," she said. "I'm from Georgia. It's not blizzarding there. If we had half as much snow there as we do here, the whole state would be shut down."
Sophomore pre-law and public relations major Justin Friend said he enjoyed the cool winter night on Tuesday, but he wished classes were canceled.
"I had a play date last night, snuggled, cuddled and I kept refreshing my e-mail every two seconds to see if my classes had been canceled," Friend said.
Even though professors were encouraged not to cancel classes, freshman Lucas Denlinger said he didn't venture out of his LaFollette Complex room all day.
"I'm not going outside," Denlinger said. "I don't see my friends from other places, and I haven't been to my car since it first started getting bad out.
"I also haven't gone anywhere else to eat but here in LaFollette."
Decisions to cancel class are made by 6 a.m., and Kenyon said he suggested that classes be canceled Wednesday for cleaning purposes.
"My recommendation was if we have a lot of pedestrians out at 8 a.m., they are getting in the way of snow removal," he said.
At 6 a.m., Kenyon realized how long it was going to take to remove the ice. At 10 a.m. with much of the ice left from the first round of the storm, it was debated if the university should cancel classes for the rest of the day or open as scheduled.
"It won't get a heck of a lot better if we wait," Kenyon said. "It's still going to be a challenge."
He said most people don't care for winter, but most people do manage.
"I can't guarantee hassle-free winters. Winter is an inconvenience for everyone."
The weather has also contributed to several roof leaks in various locations on campus where water is dripping down from the ceilings or running down the walls, Kenyon said.
"Falls do happen but usually they can be prevented with a little more care," Kenyon said. "I'm disappointed when I hear stories of people who slip and fall. They are going to try to lash out but I can't promise perfection."
- Sara Nahrwold, Shanice Graves and Adam Young contributed to this story.
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