Coming back from spring break, many Oswego State students were greeted by temperatures in the 60s and sunny skies yet it soon turned as mother nature planned her April fool’s joke that ended in chilling temperatures during the following weekend.  During the weekend of April Fool’s Day, Oswego was blanketed by 5.2 inches of snow within one night, which was then garnished by another light dusting of snow the very next day. Even when the snow stopped falling, the cold temperatures remained with overnight low temperatures getting as bitterly cold as the teens.

This drastic change in the weather pattern caught some students completely off guard including junior Pedro Gomez. “It’s baffling to see these conditions come out and sneak up on us when we were more than convinced the snow had run its course,” Gomez said.

Even those who aren’t usually surprised by the roller coaster weather patterns that Oswego has become infamous for were still surprised to see nearly half of a foot of snow on the ground in April including senior Tiffany Carr.

“I know this is Oswego, but I still wasn’t expecting to have anything more than just flurries in April,” Carr said.

According to associate Professor of Meteorology Scott Steiger snow in April is common for Oswego and Central New York in general.

“It has been a season where pretty much all normal expectations can be thrown out the window”, Dr. Steiger said.

He notes that this area of the country sees a few inches of snow in April on average and that spring altogether is an “up-and-down” time.

Growing up in Rochester before coming to Oswego State as a student, Steiger’s well-versed in the climate here. So much so, that he would not be surprised to see more late season snowfall, as late as May even. Snowfall in May would not be completely new to Central New York either as some mothers have been greeted by snowfall in the past on Mother’s Day. In fact, the latest recorded snowfall for Syracuse was 1.2 inches back on May 17, 1973.Some students feel like winter has overstayed its welcome, winter-like weather might not be out of the forecast for Oswego just yet.

Some students feel like winter has overstayed its welcome, winter-like weather might not be out of the forecast for Oswego just yet.

The chance of snow is back in the forecast for this weekend, with temperatures still well below our average temperature of the mid fifties for this time of year.

There are some long-range model ensembles out there that have already noticed a warming trend for the second half of April, but the uncertainty with that kind of model guidance is still high. Regardless, students shouldn’t throw their winter gear in your closet to collect dust just yet, as spring is looking to bloom later this year.