Brief Blizzard Sweeps Corvallis

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People rush through the snow on Thursday in front of the Memorial Union. A blip of snow hit Corvallis on the first day of December which seemed to catch everyone off guard.

As Oregon State University students sat in their classrooms at 1 p.m. this afternoon, eyes strayed from lectures to windows as a downfall of snow transformed campus into a momentary winter wonderland.

“It wasn’t snowing very much when I walked into my building. People were starting to get excited about it. And as I started walking to class it’s pouring, of course I was walking straight into it.” said Carter Hunt, a physics major at OSU. “So by the time I get to class, I’m soaked completely like water through my pockets, but it was really cool to see snow.” 

The National Weather Service issued a Special Weather Statement that said showers of rain and snow would move through Corvallis and surrounding areas and to beware of slick roadways. 

According to the Weather Underground, the temperature was 35 Fahrenheit at the time of the brief blizzard and mentioned the possibilities of flurries or snow showers throughout the day.

In the case of an extreme weather event, students can check the OSU homepage and click the link to the campus alert website for any updates, closures or other timely information. 

According to the NWS, this weekend is forecasted to have fleeting flurries, freezing rain and rain showers with temperatures as low as 26 degrees Fahrenheit.

As far as safety is concerned, the NWS suggests finding shelter and covering exposed body parts to avoid hypothermia when caught outside in a storm.

When driving, NWS says to slow down, turn on headlights, leave extra distance between other cars and be aware that if roads appear wet they can also be icy.

“At first it started snowing a little bit. I was like, oh, that’s snow! And then it stopped and I was like, ‘oh, that’s a bummer.’ And then it came out of nowhere, just huge, like a mini blizzard,” said Micah Peyton, an OSU zoology student from Hawaii. 

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