Have you felt like you’ve gone through all four seasons in one week? Well, you are probably right because recently, the weather has been acting very weird. The weather, here in Charlottesville, has had a very bipolar effect on us. It has gone from being very warm, to very cold in one day during a time when it is supposed to be consistently cold. Virginia is typically known to be a state where the weather is a bit wacky but to a certain extent. This year, however, has been very unusual.

Going into the first couple of months of this school year, it started to get cold later than usual. It got relatively cold getting into late November to early December, even though it was already supposed to by that time. There had also been days in December when it was surprisingly warm and also the same going into the first couple months of the new year. Some days during the middle of winter were spontaneously warm so no one expected them. From March first to March ninth the highest temperature averaged around 65 degrees, so the weather was relatively nice, but then all of a sudden, the temperature dropped dramatically and it eventually snowed all within a couple days. It went from an average of 65 degrees to an average of 35 degrees within that 3-day period. 

With the constant changes in the weather, nature has been seriously affected by it. Some trees have started to bloom early, like the cherry blossoms in Washington D.C which usually bloom in spring have bloomed in the middle of winter due to the spring-like weather. The problem with this is that pollinators such as bees and butterflies haven’t come back or woken up yet because it is still winter. Unfortunately, any flowers that have bloomed will die because of the winter cold that will return along with the lack of pollen being spread by bees and butterflies.

Not only has the weather had an effect on nature, but it has also had an effect on people.  When Stella Nemecek was asked about her thoughts on the weather she expressed her annoyance with it constantly changing. “I don’t like it, I get used to the nice weather, and then it gets back to being cold”. Although there is not much we can actually do about the weather, it still has an effect on people and the things that they do on a daily basis. 

As a result of the weather constantly changing, Charlottesville has had little to no snow. Every year there is an expectation of getting a good amount of snow and the hope of schools closing. Since there hasn’t been any snow, there are a bunch of snow days that should be put to good use. Sephira, another student at CHS, thought that the snow days should be used to have the last day of school earlier. “We should give kids a week off or start summer (break) earlier”. Solly  had more of a funny response, he said: “We should have used the snow days to be off for pi day”. The students that were interviewed all had a similar idea of what the school system should do with the snow days, whether they should be used to start summer break earlier, or to have pi day off. 

Even though we know that the weather that keeps changing is out of our hands, we all still can give our thoughts on whether we like it or not. Now that we are heading into the warmer months, this wouldn’t be a problem we will be experiencing, hopefully.