A winter wonderland on The PlainsHow Auburn dealt with the snow event
BY LOGAN HURSTON FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — 2025 has been the year for snow. Over the last couple of weeks, places like Atlanta, Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama had their first snowfall in years thanks to winter storms. With a historic winter storm coming off the Gulf Coast, Auburn got it’s first taste of snow in seven years with 1.5 inches of snow covering the plains on January 21.
The snow shut down on campus operations for Auburn University from January 21 to January 23. Classes were held remotely on that time, with only essential operational personnel being required to work in person. Some of these employees include workers of the Edge and Hey Day Market, as they stayed open for students during some of the remote days.
“We went to the Red Barn and went sledding with a laundry basket,” said Smith Strain, a senior at Auburn University. “We watched students sled down the big hill on other people’s backs. Something about this snow day that was cool was it was really quiet. There was no cars going around, everyone was outside and enjoying themselves. That was the happiest I’ve seen that many people in a while.”
For some students, it was the first time they had ever seen snow. Jack Sublette, a junior at Auburn University from Orlando, Florida, had only seen snow when he went snowboarding. Tuesday was the first time he got to see snow fall from the sky. “It was a special snow day for me personally,” said Sublette. “I made a list with my friend of all the popular snow day experiences. I went sledding, had a snowball fight, built a snowman and even stuck my tongue on a telephone pole.”
Many businesses in Auburn shut down for the safety of the employees. A few places in downtown Auburn stayed open, like Moe’s Original BBQ and the Graduate. Police urged citizens to stay off the roads as they froze over due to the weather. According to the city of Auburn public safety services, there were 60 wrecks during the freeze timeline, though it is unsure how many of those wrecks were related to the weather. During the freeze, there were road closures on Magnolia, Glenn, Bragg, Donahue, MLK, Wire, Samford, Wrights Mill, Sandhill, S College, N College, Farmville, Moores Mill, E University, Azalea and Shug Jordan. There were also some medical emergencies due to exposure from the weather and falls from slipping on the ice.
In preparation for the winter weather, Auburn University ran the following procedures: Building heating controls were adjusted to remain in “occupied mode” 24/7 to retain building heat and protect pipes and equipment that are vulnerable to extremely low temperatures. Additional night shift staff patrolled high-risk pipe and equipment areas in our campus buildings. Overnight crews evaluated roads and sidewalks and applied de-icer as needed throughout the event.
Auburn University facilities were able to keep their utilities working without interruption during the winter event. They experienced some equipment issues on Tuesday night that effected the performance of the central chilled and heating water loop system, but these issues were resolved by Wednesday morning. Buildings like RBD Library and Green Hall were used as warming stations during the winter event.
