Ohio weather played a trick on Athens, teasing the city with temperatures that won’t return for a while, according to the Ohio University Scalia Lab’s website. Later this week, temperature high’s will settle in the 50s while temperature low’s will return to the mid 30s, according to the Scalia Lab.
Ohio University students may have thought spring arrived Monday — taking the 70-degree temperatures as a sign to break out the shorts, portable hammocks and put away winter boots, even though season’s official start is still three days away.
As it turns out, Ohio weather played a trick on Athens, teasing the city with temperatures that won’t return for a while, according to the OU Scalia Lab’s website.
Later this week, temperature highs will settle in the 50s while temperature lows will return to the mid 30s, according to Scalia Lab.
Instead of Monday’s clear skies, Thursday has a 20 percent chance of rain, according to the Scalia forecast. For those looking to attend High Fest on Saturday, temperatures will be as low as 30 degrees.
But on Monday, students soaked up the sun.
The chairs outside The Front Room were full, sorority sisters sat on their front porches and students spread out on the hill near the Scripps Amphitheatre — all taking advantage of the nice weather while it lasts.
Among the 30 students set up outside Scripps, some enjoyed a book while others used the location as a change in scenery for studying.
Elizabeth Schoeppner, a sophomore studying geology, said she thought the weather was nice enough to walk back to her residence hall Monday to change her outfit.
“I may as well enjoy the weather for a bit,” Schoeppner said.
Schoeppner received a text from her friend Zulfa Rizqiya, a sophomore studying strategic communication, asking her to go outside and study in the unusually nice weather.
Rizqiya said they decided to study outside because they wanted to “give themselves a break.”
Rizqiya said that as an Athens resident, most of her friends are home this week for their spring break and have been enjoying the weather. They invited her to go hiking with them, she said, though she couldn’t due to her heavy workload.
During OU’s spring break two weeks ago, Athens accumulated so much snow that Athens County Sheriff Rodney Smith issued a Level 3 snow emergency, which closed streets and prohibited residents from driving to work.
“We haven’t had this weather in a while … I’m just enjoying it,” Rizqiya said.
The next time the temperature in Athens will approach warm temperatures will be March 21, according to The National Weather Service’s website. The expected high temperature for High Fest is 55 degrees. 70-degree temperatures, however, are not foreseeable in the next 10 days.
@Fair3Julia
jf311013@ohio.edu
