Atlanta in wintertime. | Courtesy of camerazn, Flickr Creative Commons
By now everyone has experienced the bipolar weather of Atlanta in winter. The Katy Perry song “Hot and Cold” was really referring to the temperature here.
While it was relatively nice and warm for parts of the earlier winter days, and students could be seen lounging outside on the Quad, now it is nearly impossible to walk around campus without hearing someone comment on how they went to a school in the South because it was supposed to be warm.
Also, now would be a good time for everyone to stop using the word “Hotlanta” unironically because, clearly, that it is not the case.
Those who come from somewhere more south than Atlanta think they are in the Arctic, those from the North are trying to act cool by wearing t-shirts as if the 30-degree weather is warm for them and those from Atlanta are unfazed.
No matter where you fall on the spectrum, here are three ways to make the cold a bit more bearable:
Dress for the Weather
Yes, Atlanta is in the South of the United States, but it really isn’t all that close to the equator.
Therefore, it actually gets cold here, so dress accordingly. We all know you use the temperature filter on Snapchat, so put that information to good use!
Wear coats, hats, gloves, scarves, boots and whatever else you need to keep warm as you walk to and from classes.If you wear flip-flops, shorts and/or a t-shirt at all, you aren’t cool, you’re just crazy.
Ladies, we all know it is important to look cute when going out to parties, but your blue lips and ice-cold skin aren’t that attractive, so please put on a coat or pants (beer sweaters don’t count).
While you may not look cool or cute bundled up in winter clothes, it is better to fall asleep at your desk because of boredom or fatigue than hypothermia.
Stop Getting Your Hopes Up
The snow day we are longing for probably won’t happen this year. If you lived through Snowpocalypse 2k14 last year or have heard about what Atlanta is like when white flakes of terror fall from the sky, you are probably desperate for snow so you can pretend that you are in an episode of “The Walking Dead.”
While it may get cold or rain, it rarely ever does so simultaneously, and if it does, the snow almost never sticks.
It is likely that we could get ice, but not enough to cancel school for a week.
Next time you see the little snowflake icon on your weather app, unless there is a 100 percent next to it and/or large torrents of snow are currently falling from the sky, don’t expect a snow day.
After 19 Atlanta winters, snow days are harder to come by than Emory students that aren’t NBB or business majors.
Keep Warmth Around You
Clothes may not be enough to warm your reptilian body, so make sure you have some ways to warm up.
Coffee, tea and hot chocolate are the perfect ways to warm yourself up after a long walk from Woodruff to the Math and Science building as well as keep you caffeinated or on a sugar high.
If you have a special someone (by special someone, I mean Netflix), the weather is the perfect excuse to curl up together under a blanket.
Also, don’t be scared to use people as your own personal space heater by asking for hugs. Everyone will think you are just showing how much you care about them when in reality you are stealing their thermal energy.
– By Hayley Silverstein, Asst. Student Life Editor
hayley.ann.silverstein@emory.edu | Hayley Silverstein (18C) is from Atlanta, majoring in French and on the pre-med track. She joined the Wheel the fall of her freshman year as assistant student life editor and served most recently as senior editor. Hayley is involved in clinical research for Emory School of Medicine’s Division of General Medicine and Geriatrics and is a sister of Delta Phi Epsilon.
