Madison Kwiecinski – Editor-in-Chief 

Mvk5945@psu.edu

When I first declared that I wanted to attend college at Penn State Behrend, and therefore move to Erie, I heard the exact same line every time I brought it up for months. I would mention my excitement to get to school, maybe mention the nearby beach at Presque Isle, and all anyone would talk about was the snow.

I heard “Oof you are going to get a lot of snow,” or “You better bring a big coat,” or “I hope you like the cold,” every time I mentioned my college decision. In fact, even now when I travel home for the holidays the most common thing to be brought up is not my studies, or what I want to do with my life, but rather the weather. Once again, it is “How are you adjusting to the mountains of snow up there?” 

My favorite part of this, or perhaps least favorite depending on how you view it, is that nine times out of ten no one has even asked me if it has snowed yet. It is the automatic assumption that Erie is underneath a minimum of several feet of snow from October onwards, which just is not the case. 

I am a Western PA girl born and raised, and despite living the tremendous trek that is a whole two hours south of Erie, believe it or not I grew up with fairly similar weather. Pittsburgh has had equally unpredictable winters, snowing on Halloween and beautiful on Christmas for example, all of my life. 

It is the second week in November now, and I spent the weekend wearing shorts outside because the weather has been fantastic. However, all of that is overlooking the fact that almost a month ago now it was snowing for two days. Following all the cold weather and snow, it stormed for days. 

If living in Pennsylvania has taught me anything, it is simply that the weather here will do whatever it wants whenever it wants. It can snow on Halloween and be sunny on Christmas, or it can do the complete opposite. At this point, if we got snow in September, I would meet it with a little annoyance but no surprise. 

All of this is to say that I believe people hyperfixate on the wrong downside of Erie weather conditions. First, snow does not automatically equate to colder weather. For example, it could be the exact same temperature in Erie as it is in Pittsburgh and Erie could have several more inches of snow.

Personally, I really enjoy the snow aspect of winter. I am not a person who openly enjoys the cold, so people found Erie to be an odd choice. However, I stand by the idea that if winter is going to be cold anyway, I would always rather it be cold and beautiful with snow than bitterly cold and gray outside, with no snow in sight. 

I believe the snow actually improves Erie weather, because without the white dust that covers everything in winter the area would be cold, gray, and damp with nothing to make up for it. For me, the real downside of Erie weather is one that I rarely hear people talk about. 

The wind in Erie is by far the worst part and it is more than a winter problem. Living so close to Lake Erie contributes to the almost permanently windy weather, and it becomes very irritating when going to class. This worsens dramatically as the weather gets colder, because the wind becomes bitter on your face and stings. 

Also, the wind is a problem all year long here, but just in winter like the snow. If it rains, the wind blows it everywhere. If you want to do your hair before class, better have a way to keep it nice with the wind beating against your face. The wind naturally makes the weather feel colder in the nice months as well, adding a chill at night that no one ever warns you for. 

All of this being said, I think people fixate on the wrong aspects of Erie winters. The snow makes everything appear beautiful, and on-campus it is not even really an inconvenience as the maintenance crew does a good job shoveling all of the pathways. Next time someone is considering moving to Erie, perhaps consider that they are well aware of the snow, but may need a warning about the constant windy weather.