By James Greaves
Provo received two inches of snow Tuesday, but there is more to come today and tonight. For many students the snow is too little and too late.
With finals looming and final papers already here, students say the snow is more of an inconvenience to their schedules than a prelude to Christmas.
'The snow''s nice and stuff, it''s just a pain I don''t get to enjoy it because I have so many finals,' said Karl Thorpe, 25, a senior in business from Detroit, Mich. 'I need to be out snowboarding, not in studying.'
According to the National Weather Service, it is not unusual for Provo to go this long into the year with no major storms. Records from past years indicate the majority of snow usually falls in January and February.
The snow is expected to last all day and into the evening, picking up a little at midday, although it will turn more to rain as the day continues, according to forecasts.
'It''s fun for skiing and snowboarding,' said Heather Hayman, 22, a senior in American studies from Mission Viejo, Calif. 'But as far as going to class it''s not fun. Having to walk to and from campus in it is not my favorite thing.'
Provo is usually warmer than other cities along the Wasatch front and is expected to get less snow than more-northern and higher-elevation cities. Provo has had average temperatures over the last couple of months, but less precipitation.
An early storm in October raised the Utah snow pack to 270 percent of average at the beginning of November. However, several weeks of high pressure in November brought sun, resulting in little snow or even rain. By the beginning of December the snow pack was below average for the time of year, according to the National Weather Service.
Though many find themselves too busy to enjoy the winter weather or do not like the snow, others are happy.
'I''m really excited about it,' said RD Boardman, 25, a graduate student in counseling psychology from Parker, Colo. 'I can finally make snowgoons outside in the yard and play with my kid. I definitely wanted to see it come sooner.'
Ski resorts received little snow yesterday; Snowbird and Park City both received one inch.
After today''s storm there will be a couple of weak storms moving through, but an area of high pressure is forecast to bring of week of sunnier weather beginning early next week. As far as a white Christmas goes - it''s probably too early to tell, officials said.