Updated: 12:15 p.m., Jan 22
Today, Jan. 22, all Western Carolina University face-to-face classes are canceled.
University officials warned students not to travel on the roads due to ice in an email early this morning.
The first snow of the year fell in Cullowhee Wednesday, Jan. 20, leading to snowball fights, sledding and excitement.
Fun and games
Snow at Western Carolina University tends to bring some unique personalities outdoors.
Students like Lauren Smithers and Bailey Biggins look like they drank 100 ounces of Red Bull before traipsing outside.
Smithers and Biggins, carrying plastic container lids as sleds, said they shouted “SNOW PARTY!” as they ran through Walker residence hall.
Lauren Smithers and Bailey Biggins on their way to sled. Photo by Bradley Lucore.
The freshmen girls took turns sledding down the big hill behind Blue Ridge residence hall for the first time Wednesday. They attracted a crowd of people from all different places on campus.
On the other end of the plaza snowball fights were breaking out among large and small groups of students.
“One person threw and then it just turned into chaos,” Jackson Norton, a freshman at WCU, said.
Norton was part of a larger fight, but freshman student Kristen Mulrain was throwing snowballs with just two of her friends.
“We decided we wanted to come out and play in it,” Mulrain said.
Exchange students experience the weather
An exchange student from London, Tanisha King, knew from the moment she woke up that snow would fall today.
Jackson Norton plays in a snowball fight. Photo by Bradley Lucore.
She was sipping coffee in Starbucks while preparing for a snowball fight. King said she was excited and ready for a snow day since London rarely gets the snowy weather.
Speaking to another exchange student from Russia, Alexey Rybakov told me snow only makes the news if there isn’t any.
“Snow for us is like the rain. No one cares,” Rybakov said.
Though he was not concerned about the weather, Rybakov was exited to destroy his Japanese friend in a snowball fight.
Mostly cheer, some fear
Most students were playing in the snow, some were using the weather to get professional photos and some were up to no good.
A group of three male students and one female student were playing in the snow around the staircase in the middle of campus.
As I was walking by I saw one of the guys throw a snowball toward the Forsyth business building.
One female student walked along the sidewalk talking on her phone. The snowball landed on her foot, and she looked around to see where it came from.
The group that threw the snowball turned their backs to pretend like they were not involved.
I asked the group if they knew the student they had hit. Silence. I continued walking only to see a snowball land inches from my foot.
Everyone left the situation unscathed.
Winter is coming
Wednesday’s snow day received a warm welcome from students, but WCU administrators may not feel the same way.
Bird Building Lane and Circle Drive were shut down for safety. Photo by Bradley Lucore.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch until Sunday morning forecasting 8-12 inches of snow by the end of the day Saturday, some freezing rain and black ice.
Drivers reported poor road conditions today and lots of wrecks on Highway 107. Jackson County Emergency Management Director Todd Dillard issued a statement urging drivers to stay off the roads during heavy snowfall, as reported by The Sylva Herald.
Jackson County Public Schools, Haywood County Public Schools and Southwestern Community College have either canceled or delayed opening Wednesday and Thursday.
For announcements about weather related closings at Western Carolina University go to wcu.edu.
