Nashville’s wintry weather — that has disrupted classes and made it tough for many students and faculty to make it to campus — may continue into the weekend.
Students returned to class Wednesday, Feb. 18, after two days of canceled classes, but a mixture of snow and ice is lingering on campus. And it’s not going to melt away on its own, with local TV meteorologists predicting temperatures to plummet into the negatives Wednesday night.
Nashville hasn’t seen this much snow and ice since the largest snowfall of the century, when 7 inches of snow fell on Music City in January of 2003.
Sure, some say this is the “sunny South,” but the Nashville area has had a few winter storms of epic proportions.
The wintry mix the area received during this week reminded many Nashvillians of the brutal ice storm of February 1994, when electric transformers lighted the sky like lightning as they exploded. Tree limbs covered in heavy ice ripped down power lines.
That ice storm left many Middle Tennessee residents without power and heat for more than two weeks.
During that storm, many parts of Tennessee experienced more than 5 inches of rainfall, much of it frozen.
“I remember we played Belmont the night that it started to snow,” said Kim Chaudoin, Assistant Vice President of University Communication and Marketing. “I lived in Murfreesboro at the time and commuted to Lipscomb for work. I tried to get home and had to leave my car along Tyne Boulevard. I walked back to my office and slept on my office floor that night.”
And there have been other instances of brutal slaps of winter affecting campus.
During the spring semester of 2014, classes were delayed two days during students’ return from winter break.
This year is the second consecutive year Lipscomb has canceled classes due to inclement winter weather, and the last two days of snow and ice may not be the last campus will see.
The negative temperatures expected overnight and the possibility of more snow on Friday will be dealt with by the university.
In an email to faculty, staff and students, Lipscomb president Randy Lowry assured the community that campus is prepared for any future weather challenges.
“We have three generators positioned on campus in the event the campus should lose power,” Lowry wrote. “Should power be interrupted, we have hundreds of inflatable mattresses that we could set up in an emergency shelter mode.”
In addition to the low temperatures campus will face on Wednesday night, there is a 70 percent chance of snow to fall on Friday, transitioning into heavy rain on Saturday.
Lipscomb will resume a normal class schedule for Thursday, Feb. 19, but the Class Schedule Disruption Policy will still be in effect.
The Provost’s Office will be monitoring the weather and alerting faculty, staff and students of any updates.
“Decisions regarding university-wide office closures and class cancellations are made with the utmost consideration for the safety of faculty, staff and students,” Lipscomb Provost Craig Bledsoe said. “In making this decision, other university officials are consulted regarding the status of on-campus conditions and services and anticipated weather conditions.”
See the best photos of the wintry weather on campus below.
Photo gallery by Erin Turner