MUNCIE, Ind. — It doesn’t take long after stepping outside to feel the sudden change in temperatures in the Muncie area. For some time, Muncie was a city buried underneath snow and ice.
What felt like change overnight; Muncie had a rapid increase of temperatures. Today, Muncie had a high of 54 degrees. Last week, on Feb.20, Muncie only had a high of 21 degrees.
“In spring, we have the biggest differences between cold masses and warm air masses - so the biggest temperature difference,” said Petra Zimmermann, Chairperson of the Department of Geography and Meteorology. “As the sun’s direct rays start moving closer and closer towards the equator, and then after that towards the tropic of Cancer.”
As the sun shines into Muncie yet again, the vibrance flourishes as well. While the university thaws, motivation rises amongst the students. Freshman Nathanael Barnes is just one student who is feeling the power of the spring weather.
“When it was colder outside, I would kind of dread going to my Tuesday classes because it’s early in the morning and I’m freezing my butt off,” said Barnes. “But, I mean, now that it’s warmer, I’m like okay - I still gotta wake up early in the morning, but at least I don’t need to worry about, like, bundling up so much just to charge through a bunch of snow.”
With the spring weather rolling in, it’s perfect timing for spring break as it’s right around the corner. For Ball State University, spring break is from March 2 to March 9, with classes resuming on March 10. The Muncie School Corporation’s spring break is from March 24 to March 28, with classes resuming on March 31.
As strange as the weather may seem, this is typical behavior for the Midwest.
“Variability is actually the norm,” said Zimmermann. “It’s expected to have up and down temperatures. We are also starting to move towards actual spring.”
Astronomical spring begins approximately March 21, and meteorological spring begins March 1, this upcoming Saturday.
Contact Payton Mucker with comments at payton.mucker@bsu.edu.
