 "Photo: Brad Tollefson")
Matt Hobbins, a Texas Tech graduate student from Alamogordo, N.M., said he believes accidents become more frequent every year when winter arrives.
“I remember one year I saw some sort of accident almost every day,” he said. “People think they can handle the conditions but don’t realize how easy it is to lose control and crash.”
One option the Tech administration has is either to delay classes or cancel school altogether.
Ronald Phillips, the special assistant to the president, said university operating policy addresses potential issues concerning weather.
The first step is the Tech police chief collaborates with local agencies analyzing weather information they receive for that day.
Chief Ronald Seacrist of the Tech Police Department said the main objective is to determine if it would be safe for students to travel to and from class.
The Department of Public Safety and Lubbock National Weather Services are the two main agencies that provide the data to determine the conditions for the day, he said.
“If we have rain early in the morning before classes that’s going to freeze the roads, we might choose to delay,” Seacrist said. “If it’s all day then we can choose to cancel classes.”
Phillips said before any decision is made, the next step in the process is to consult the provost. When a decision is made between the chief of police and provost, they consult with the Tech president for the final decision.
“We want to do what’s in the best interest of the Tech community,” he said.
Jody James, the Lubbock National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist, said last year’s weather reports from November to February outlook were significantly above normal.
November was 3 degrees above normal, December was 2.9 degrees, January was 4 degrees above normal and February was 6 degrees above normal, according to records.
“This winter has a slightly better chance at being warmer than normal,” he said.
An El Niño episode is taking place, James said, which could bring a chance of above average rain and snow. But it is in a weak to moderate state, which means it would result in below normal precipitation.
It has been several years since Lubbock has had an average snow year, he said.
“A normal snowfall is 10.5 inches,” James said, “even 80 percent would be snowy.”
That would mean the icy roads would be less of a problem but it still wouldn’t lower the chances of the roads freezing over.
To combat the freeze over that occurs, Phillips said, Tech takes the initiative to be prepared immediately.
Some of the best prevention techniques include pouring salt on the sidewalks and streets early in the morning so that they can be safe for students to walk and drive on, he said.
“I don’t underestimate the conditions even though I’ve lived here for more than four years,” Hobbins said. “The second you start to underestimate it, that’s the second you find yourself skidding on the ice headed straight to a light post.”
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