Snow Storm or the Apocalypse?

by Courtney Wight '26 on January 29, 2026

Opinion - Entertainment & Society

Friday, Jan. 23, at 4 p.m. my friends and I went to the Shaws down on Admiral Street, just as we always do on Friday afternoons. Yet, upon our arrival, we realized we may have forgotten about the impending inclement weather heading toward the area on Sunday. The parking lot was packed, with only three available carts in sight, and a store full of people made the experience feel like I was doomsday prepping for the apocalypse.

The pizza dough was cleared out, so there went our plan of pizza for dinner, and then disaster struck as I went to grab milk. Usually, the milk section is absolutely overflowing, fully stocked with a ton of options. However, there was only one full gallon of real milk (Lactaid doesn’t count!) in the whole store. I was stunned. I know the joke is to stock up on milk and bread before a storm, but I didn’t know it was that serious.

This experience and the general reaction to the storm have made me question how prepared people are for winter storms. As someone from Albany, NY, 10 inches of snow is a decent amount, but not exactly enough for mass panic. Most people stock up slightly at their usual grocery run and prepare their snow blowers and shovels before a snowstorm. Parents find their kids’ snowpants, hats, and gloves, and get ready for a day of snow-related activities. Maybe it was because I was a kid, but I never remember such a mass panic during a snowstorm growing up.

I’ve had a snow day every year I’ve been at Providence College, and I personally feel that they have not always been warranted. I understand walking around campus is different from driving to school and then being inside all day, but when I hear about a snow day, I expect at least a foot of snow. I still remember the snow day freshman year when I was so excited to wake up to a winter wonderland, only to see about two inches of snow on the ground. I was grateful for the snow day, especially since I had not done my Civ reading, but it certainly did not have the magic of a snow day when I was a kid.

As a person born and raised in the Northeast, snow is a part of life. The car I drove during high school was a pickup truck, and I remember one day we unexpectedly got about three inches of snow during the school day. My sister and I struggled to clean off the truck as best as we could with the small scraper. My hands turned bright red without gloves, and my feet were absolutely freezing as I had Converse on. While it was certainly a tense drive home, we survived. My parents made sure I learned how to drive in the snow since they knew I’d probably have to do it on my own one day.

I understand that those who are not from places where it snows and gets cold may be shocked or unprepared for this type of weather. I feel weather stations have contributed to the intense fear-mongering over winter storms. I’ve even started getting videos on my For You Page making fun of how weather stations are talking about the storm. While I know the Northeast may not be receiving as much snow annually as in decades past, it is still the Northeast! This type of weather comes with the territory. This storm is not a once-in-a-generation blizzard, yet weather stations and people at the grocery store certainly made it feel like it is.

Fix Me With the Cold

by Grace Pappadellis ’29 on November 20, 2025

Opinion

There’s no more faking any remnants of warm weather or trying to convince myself that there will be some sort of turnaround. There will be no fascinating shift in temperature, allowing the sun to pour over everything and letting the world forget about the onset of winter. Well, with the state of the environment and humans affecting the peculiar weather patterns each and every day, anything could truly happen. However, denying the arrival of winter would be foolish, and understanding the signs of my own seasonal depression is essential for learning to cope, and maybe even enjoy the season of my despair in a fresh, somewhat convoluted way.

I’ve been working to fight off negativity for a decent amount of time now—especially my own. Still, I struggle with maintaining the sort of persona I strive for during other seasons. I generally gravitate towards positive people—people who like to laugh, adventure, and get excited about everyday life. When I don’t recognize these traits within myself, it saddens me, especially when it feels out of my control. The sun setting early, the paleness of my skin, the bitter cold, and the congested itinerary that is somehow devoid of the activities I truly enjoy are all factors contributing to my glumness and pessimism. Sometimes during conversations, my words are short and slightly ornery, especially when I am overwhelmed with homework or it is too cold and dark for me to run outdoors. I want to slap myself in the face as I reflect upon my insufferable interactions with others, even if this frustration is only apparent to myself.

Seasonal depression is a commonly used term today, but each person experiences the changing of seasons differently. For example, one of my closest friends from back home hates the overwhelming heat, especially in unpredictable New England summers. She abhors sweating, humidity, and being in the sun for too long. In fact, all summer long, she explains her need for fall—those crisp, cozy first weeks in October when she lives in the honeymoon phase of the vibrant colors and senses in nature to inspire her artwork. I admire her ability to appreciate the Sunday of the seasons, but I’d argue the superiority of spring and summer any day.

To remain optimistic and focused during this time of year, I incorporate activities that bring me comfort into my daily routine. However, I do not shy away from the things that bring me discomfort. It may sound ridiculous and unrealistic, but exposing myself to the cold alleviates its harshness and bitterness, which helps me change my opinion of it. I hate the cold. I am generally cold all the time, and I inadvertently underdress as if I’m protesting the weather. Despite this, I take walks when it is cold. I won’t run, though I love running outside, but I’ll walk. There’s so much to see, especially when I’m alone, creating songs in my head, like I once did as a kid. I’ll admit that I enjoy the revitalization, my lungs filling with chilled air, and the warmth of an enormous scarf around my neck. Plus, it is even more rewarding to enter a heated home after an icy stroll. I’m immediately wrapped in a down comforter and emboldened by the warmth trapped all around me.

Once I can forget the cold, winter doesn’t seem so bad. The cold is the most operative word, the condition that pushes me over the edge. I can manage most of the others, or at least try to. I am making progress with the walks, though. No one can truly predict it, but maybe the frigid air will zap my seasonal sadness away for good.

Lone Star State Besieged by Bad Weather: Biden Declares Major Disaster in Texas

by The Cowl Editor on February 25, 2021

News

The severe winter storm is responsible for at least 28 deaths. Photo courtesy of flickr.com.

by Eileen Cooney ’23

News Staff

On Feb. 20, President Joseph Biden declared a major disaster for the majority of the state of Texas in the wake of a severe winter storm that left most of the state without electricity and killed 28 people. In recent days, more than 14 million Texans have been under boil water advisories, which remain in effect for more than 189 counties. The Texas Army National Guard has been deployed across the state in order to conduct welfare checks, assist local authorities, and find those who are in need of warming stations. Additionally, since many Texans are without water, the National Guard has delivered more than 28,000 water bottles.

President Biden’s declaration of a major disaster unlocks grants for temporary housing, home repairs, and low-cost loans in order to protect those who have property that is uninsured. In addition, these funds will help small businesses recover from the effects of the storm and provide federal aid to local government offices and nonprofit organizations so that they can provide protective measures and enact danger mitigation efforts.

Additionally, congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has helped raise more than $4 million in relief efforts in conjunction with Texas’s 29th congressional representative, Sylvia Garcia, and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who represents Houston, TX. In a press conference, Ocasio-Cortez said, “This shows that New York stands with you, but the whole country also stands with you.”

This is in sharp contrast to other politicians who have taken heat for their response to the storm in recent days, in particular, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. On Wednesday, Feb. 17, Cruz was seen boarding a flight with his family to Cancún, Mexico while millions of his constituents remained without power or running water in record cold temperatures. Cruz claimed that he was traveling to Cancún “to be a good dad” to his daughters and wife, saying, “On the one hand, all of us who are parents have a responsibility to take care of our kids, take care of our families. But I also have a responsibility that I take very seriously in fighting for the state of Texas.”

For at least 12 hours after photos emerged of him at the airport, Cruz’s office refused to provide a comment. However, after facing intense public backlash, Cruz flew home, admitting that the trip was “obviously a mistake” and that he had “second thoughts” about it. He spent just one day on his trip.

This winter crisis in Texas and other states across southern America has profound implications, suggesting that climate change is bringing with it intense, volatile fluctuations in weather patterns. Alice Hill, who oversaw planning for climate change risks under the Obama administration, says, “We are colliding with a future of extremes.” Experts have been warning that other states and electrical grid operators should take note of the causes of the current situation in Texas.

On Saturday, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, Texas’s utility regulator, reported that it was investigating the factors that, combined with extreme winter weather effects, disrupted the distribution of electricity to millions of Texans. Additionally, Governor Greg Abbott is convening an emergency meeting to investigate and examine what occurred.

Bursting the PC Bubble: Arctic Blast

by The Cowl Editor on November 14, 2019

News

by Kyle Burgess ’21

News Co-Editor

The weather outside is looking rather frightful for many east coast residents as they brace for an Arctic blast set to shatter nearly 300 cold temperature records, providing a winter wonderland atmosphere two weeks before Thanksgiving arrives.

The coldest winds of the season are to blame for this dramatic drop in temperature, rolling across the Great Plains and towards the Atlantic Ocean. These winds are causing sub-zero readings in Minnesota and temperatures barely reaching the teens in Texas before moving on to bombard New England, the Deep South, and everywhere in-between.

In anticipation of the freeze, CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward warned that some places in the East could experience temperatures on Wednesday afternoon up to 30 degrees below average. The National Weather Service echoed such sentiments, claiming that there was “potential for widespread record cold morning low temperatures and record low afternoon high temperatures” across the central and eastern United States.

Wintry conditions have already begun to take their toll in several states, like a fatal car crash in Osage County, KS that was the result of a driver losing control of their vehicle due to the icy highway and colliding head-on with an SUV, killing an infant and injuring three others. Missouri has also experienced its fair share of slip and slide conditions, leading to dozens of crashes.

Meanwhile, air traffic has been hit just as hard, with NBC reporting that around 2,000 flights at O’Hare International Airport had been delayed or canceled as of Monday afternoon with one plane sliding off a runway. Incoming flights experienced an average of six hours delayed with passengers for outgoing flights having to wait as long as 16 hours.

It just so happens that PC found itself in the bullseye of the storm’s path, with the heaviest snowfall expected in New England and the Great Lakes region as of Monday evening. Some locations were told to prepare for more than a foot of snow, although this was not entirely unexpected. Enhanced lake-effect snow was set to produce higher snow totals as freezing and windy conditions form over a not-so-cold lake, providing the perfect source for snowfall.