By Amy Weintraub
After being back in Rochester for only 14 hours, I was very quickly reacclimated to the unforgiving and elusive weather of our dear college town. After driving five and a half hours through sporadic rain showers, I arrived in Rochester to find it humid and muggy – basically the type of weather you try to avoid being in at all costs – and this was only the evening. The next morning, the weather was just as horrible as the previous night, except now the heat and blazing sun were added into the mix.
Arriving on campus to move in proved to be an extremely difficult task in and of itself, which was unfortunately worsened by the extreme humidity. What followed can only be described as a complete and total nightmare. I live on the ninth floor of Anderson Tower, the elevators were broken and I had an entire SUV packed to the maximum. The overwhelming feelings of challenge were palpable. The mere thought of all those daunting stairs was terrifying. Although I wanted to give up and admit defeat right after hearing about the non-existent elevators, this wasn’t really an option. I had to haul the majority of my belongings up eight flights of stairs in the sweltering heat. Not only was the temperature immobilizing, but I felt as though the humidity was wrapping itself around me, pulling me into its clutches and completely suffocating me. Already, I knew it was going to be a year full of many tumultuous weather forecasts.
In the days following, the weather continued to baffle me. The days became increasingly hot, and of course, humid. After being outside for a mere 10 minutes, your body would feel as if it were coated in a sticky, clammy layer.
Your immediate reaction is to jump back into the shower to rid yourself of this sliminess, but that would only result in a massive surplus of showers.
The only thing to do was to brave the weather and hope that tomorrow would bring relief. As ill luck would have it, it never did. Katrina was still hovering over us – we were entangled in her web of world domination.
According to http://www.weather.com, in the past 30 years, the average temperature recorded for the month of September in Rochester has been 68 degrees Fahrenheit – so it seems very fitting that we have been experiencing temperatures ranging from the upper-70s to mid-80s instead of our sorely missed upper-60s to lower-70s. As if the rising temperatures weren’t enough, the percentage of humidity has also skyrocketed compared to recent years.
I soon found that on the days when it wasn’t overly moist and hot outside, it was raining.
Rain in Rochester can never be taken lightly. You will never find yourself caught under a little trickle of rain.
It’s a little known fact that Rochester is notorious for its cloudy weather. When it rains here, it pours. Rochester could even be nicknamed the Seattle of the East.
The national average of sunny days per year is a whopping 213 out of 365 days, but here in Rochester we are graced with a substantially fewer 170 days of pure, unadulterated sunshine.
Ironically enough, it seems to rain only on the weekends. Monday through Thursday shows us inviting, clear blue skies, but Friday through Sunday it feels as though we’re trapped in Noah’s Ark.
I would speculate that the university is scheming to trap students in their rooms, making them feel compelled to study on the weekends simply for lack of anything better to do.
As distressing as this may sound, there is some truth behind the projected consequences of the storms.
Not only did the most recent rainstorm make me want to crawl into my bed and never come out, but it put a damper on my overall morale and well-being.
Many students will soon feel the wrath of winter weather upon them and the unshakable depression that comes with it. During these long and dreary days, you begin to wonder when was the last time you felt the sun’s luscious, golden rays shining down on your pale and ghostly face.
Sadly, hurricanes are not the only imposing factors manipulating the forecast, and although they are forces to be reckoned with, I know this won’t be the only time in which the conditions outside drive me into hibernation mode. But, as many students know, a downpour of rain is nothing compared to the snow that will soon blanket the campus. Neither Katrina nor Rita has any control over the precipitation that makes Rochester famous. So, as you walk around campus in the next few weeks and marvel at the majestic oranges and reds of the changing leaves, savor those moments. Go sit outside on the quad with your friends, while the grass is still fully visible – for tomorrow, it just might snow.
Weintraub can be reached at aweintraub@campustimes.org.
