By Dy’mond McElrath
McPherson, Kansas is known for a plethora of things. Centered in one of the largest wheat producing areas, McPherson specializes in things like energy, equipment manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, etc. While these specialties are commonly known of McPherson, another aspect the town is known for is its aggressive cold front following the summertime. Traditionally, seasons go from winter, fall, spring, to summer. However, this year, students feel like we skipped over sweater weather and dove right into hoodie and bubble coat season. “At least in Illinois, there is at least a two-week span where women wear sweaters and knee-high boots before we must bundle up completely. In Kansas, we’ll literally go from wearing shorts on Monday to having on three layers of clothes on Tuesday,” said Arriyonn Phillips, a transfer senior.
Although most nights in McPherson are relatively quiet, students sometimes wake up to frost or fog on their bedroom and car windows. The first thing we think when we see frost, is cold weather. In preparation for the cold, we dress ourselves in hoodies, jackets, and coats to start the day. However, noon will come, and it will be 80 degrees and sunny outside. “I put on a hoodie, oversized sweats and my Ugg boots this morning because my weather app said 50 degrees and windy. By the time I got out of my second class, I was taking my hoodie off on the way to my room because the weather had shot up in just two hours”, said Lasheicka Joseph, senior.
Cold weather in McPherson is common and expected. Although many freezing cold mornings turn into sunny afternoons, that will not last all winter. The best advice for students preparing for the cold front, especially the ones who are not from Kansas, is to constantly check the weather app, wake up a couple minutes earlier to warm up your car/defrost your windows, and keep an extra jacket or coat in your car, bookbag, etc.
