Russ Plummer's Final Weather Article

Russ Plummer
9-18-06
Weather Article

Gusty winds, cooler air and rain came to campus Friday driving UW-Oshkosh students indoors to trade their tank tops for jackets.

Student opinions were mixed when asked about the sudden change in temperature before and after Friday afternoon.

Junior Sadie Offenstein, 21, and her roommate, senior Megan McCube, 21, were among the 26 students studying, reading and talking outside of Halsey Science Center on Friday. Both were wearing tank tops and shorts while lying on top of the dry and prickly grass.

“I love being outside so it is really nice to be able to study outside,” Offenstein said. “So much of the year it is cold and you can not be outside, but I don’t like the bees.”

Offenstein’s roommate also enjoyed the weather, but thinks pleasing weather conditions can be a little distracting.

“I find it distracting to be outside, because in your dorm room you are either by yourself or with your roommate,” McCube said. “Outside you can see a whole bunch of people you know. I am a senior and I have a bunch of friends on campus who distract me. I have been sitting here for 20 minutes and, I have done nothing.”

Friday afternoon brought with it gusty winds, cooler air and rain forcing Oshkosh students to put away their summer wear and don warmer clothing. Numerous umbrellas could be seen in the glistening hands of students coming out of Reeve Memorial Union.

The lower temperatures and rainy conditions continued through out the weekend. Students returned to class on Monday with another day of cloudy conditions and scattered rain.

Monday evening at Reeve Memorial Union, students expressed their opinions about the sudden change in weather and the current 58 degree forecast, according to the National Weather Service.

“When it is raining so hard and you get wet, it is really hard to concentrate in class when you are soaked for four hours,” senior Rachel Scott, 21, said.

“When it is nice outside, I do stuff outside and never study,” sophomore Tom Holyoke, 20, said. “When it is not nice out I study.”

The morale of students concerned about weather conditions may rise soon with the NWS predicting a forecast for the next six days being partly-to-mostly cloudy with temperatures in the low-to-upper 70s.