Lets Talk About the Weather

I think the weather is an underutilized selling point for prospective students.  I was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa where yesterday, it looked like this.

My parents received 15.5″ of snow and had drifts that were as high as their shoulders.  They shoveled and snow blowed 5 times in a 24-hour period.  In Williamsburg, Virginia yesterday it looked like this.

The high temperature was 73 and the sun was shining.  This is December in Williamsburg (and oftentimes January and February too).  When I was growing up, school was only closed for major snow storms like the one that throttled the Midwest yesterday and when the temperature or wind-chill reached -50 degrees.  In Virginia – where I’m convinced there exists but one snow plow for the entire state – even the forecasting of snow causes everything in the state to shut down (and I do mean everything).  Last year, when there was a prediction of 5″ of snow there was a run on grocery stores as if the apocalypse was coming (and mind you we didn’t even see one snow flake).  When it snowed 6″ my freshman year at W&M, classes were canceled for 3 days.  When classes resumed, we were assured that the campus would be appropriately sanded for our safety, I exited my residence hall to find a huge pile of sand on the stoop.  The next pile was 40 yards away.  No northerners, I’m not making this up.  I don’t think you can buy ice scrapers, shovels or snow blowers within a 50 mile radius of where I live.  Moderate climate is a state of mind here.

I don’t think I’ve experienced negative temperatures while living in Williamsburg and rarely does it dip below 20.  I no longer own snow boots or a true winter coat.   So if you hate snow, negative temperatures, and chill-you-to-the-bone winds but you like warm Decembers, and more cash in your wallet from not having to buy snow boots and true winter coats then Williamsburg might be the place for you.

– Wendy Livingston