PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Brown was blanketed in a historic 37.9 inches of snow during a record-setting blizzard on Monday, Feb. 23.
The largest blizzard in Rhode Island history, it surpassed the long-standing record for the greatest single snowstorm of record set by the Blizzard of 1978, which dropped 28.6 inches of snow in Providence, according to the National Weather Service.
Brown sophomore Samuel Marcus, who is from Storrs, Connecticut, donned his ski goggles and snow pants to venture across campus during the blizzard on Monday, wading through snow drifts “ranging from knee-high to above my waist,” he marveled.
Another undergraduate — Alexa Theodoropoulos, a junior from the Philippines — told the New York Times she had never seen so much snow: “It felt like we were in ‘Frozen,’” she said.
University offices were closed Feb. 23-24, as facilities and grounds crews worked continuously to clear walkways, parking areas and more. As blizzard conditions abated, many students headed out into the winter wonderland to frolic and craft snow sculptures on campus, including Marcus and a group of friends who spent hours building an igloo on the College Green.
“It was really nice to see different people’s reaction to [the igloo] — many people told us how cool they thought it was, and it was nice to see that something we made could bring joy to other people on campus,” said first-year student Lynden Auckly, who is from Manhattan, Kansas. “This was certainly a lot more snow than anything I am used to.”
