It’s climate change, betches! I don’t mean to sound excited about that, but for any non-believers out there — the snow that fell on Saturday, October 29th better have rocked your world. And if that wasn’t enough to get you thinking, this snowfall was NYC’s earliest since 1869. In the dialogue about climate change, there’s a lot of emphasis on the global warming bit, but the truth is that our climate is changing in a lot of other extreme ways, too. In case you haven’t noticed, winters have been colder and longer in the past few years. Remember how long it took to whip out our short shorts last spring? Hate to break it to ya, but chances are that it’ll be the same deal this year. So why, exactly, is global warming causing fucking freezing cold winters that start in October? Let me break it down for you:

Note: this is the oversimplified version of the explanation, get at me for the dirty deetz. 

1. ice caps are melting because of higher global temperatures

2. as ice sheets melt, less of the heat on earth can be reflected back out

3. wait doesn’t that mean it’s getting hotter?  [Read more →]

Ew.

Fellow Brunonians! I bring you the great news that the heat is in fact on. Facilities has just informed us all that they will now be guaranteeing that all rooms will stay at a balmy 68-72 degrees (unfortunately they picked a pretty nice day to send that email out).

There definitely are good signs and bad signs in this one. Yes, winter is coming, and so are the numb ears and fingertips that come with it, but maybe now I don’t have to bring my comforter into the hallway for 4 am Saturday night floor parties anymore.

We hoped it wouldn’t be so, but it seems that the 80-degree days are finally behind us.  Temperatures have started dropping steadily, reminding us that the dreaded Providence winter is fast approaching.  Say goodbye to iced coffee, Froyo World (oh, who are we kidding?  It’s never too cold out for Froyo World), and shirtless guys playing Frisbee on the Main Green until April – or maybe March, if we’re lucky.

If it’s your first year at Brown or you just never left the library during finals last year, you might not be aware of exactly how cold it can get up here on College Hill.  So we asked some students from warmer climates (California, Florida, and Texas) for six words of wisdom about how to stay warm.  Check out their answers (and our commentary on how helpful their advice actually is): [Read more →]

Freshmen be warned, it’s the fall. And if you thought that this season meant long, leaf-accented walks of shame through the Main Green for last night’s WhisCo hook-up, you thought quite wrong. “Ooo baby it’s rainin’” and not looking to stop any time soon. In a recently posted article, weather.com tries its hand at humor and describes the ‘four letter weather words’ that it claims will define the fall season for the Northeast and Midwest. If process of elimination isn’t your thing, those two four letter words are ‘rain’ and ‘wind’ (ok, perhaps that’s not fair, since ‘snow’ is also four letters, but we’re not at Colgate and for that we can be thankful). According to the expert meteorologists (oxymoron?) at weather.com, we can expect more rainy weather than average (again, to the LA freshmen, average is more rain than you’ve ever seen in your sunkist lives) and that means you should get your rain gear together now more than ever. Rain in Rhode Island is nothing new, but if weather.com is correct (which it is roughly 20% of the time, unless the weather’s actually occurring outside your window, at which point it’s 70% accurate) this will a be a memorable few months for the precipitation fans on campus. While next week is looking sunny, just remember that weather.com also predicted heavy rain for all of Spring Weekend 2011, so consider all predictions with skepticism. Happy Thursday! Don’t blame God, blame yourself. And seriously, buy a raincoat.

Although our weather forecasts are somewhat irrelevant now that BCA has announced that both concerts will be held inside, we’re going to do at least one more update to address the confusion many students are feeling about the decision. [Read more →]

Hey everyone. We’re back with your Spring Week weather report, and this time we have some excellent news! All of your anti-rain dances have really been paying off. Saturday’s forecast has changed from yesterday’s 50% chance of rain to cloudy with only a 10% chance of rain!!! Follow the jump for analysis.  [Read more →]

Here we are, with your new Spring Week forecast. The weather flip-flopped a lot over the weekend, but the outlook for Saturday now seems fairly settled on rain. Let’s focus for a minute on the positives. Although the next two days are rainy and gross (giving our young pre-frosh friends a genuine look at the realities of Brown), Thursday and Friday look bee-utiful. This should make for an excellent SPEC Carnival and a Friday concert that looks like it can be held on the Main Green. [Read more →]

We all know what an important factor weather can be in the celebration of Spring Weekend. And just in case you don’t follow weather forecasts quite so obsessively, we will keep you informed of what the great weather gods have in store for us.  Follow the link to see a preliminary look at what’s in store for us.  [Read more →]

Life’s tough when you need to ice skate to your 9:00 AM class, and nearly have a concussion from that almost-slip on the way to Pembroke. Despite the best efforts from the Facilities Management staff, Mother Nature has gotten the last laugh this winter, plaguing Providence with fickle rise and drops in temperature and the always-joyful greeting of wintry mix. Various Brown forums have spotted EMS escorting students off of the ice traps and into the safety of the ambulances. Luckily, the groundhog gave spring the nod, and we’re already seeing specks of green dotting the layers of white snow. [Read more →]