It hasn't been the coldest winter State College has ever seen or the snowiest.

But just tell that to the masses of numb-eared, red-nosed students shivering their way around campus this week. They are lifting up their hoods, tugging down their hats and tightening their scarves, as daily highs hover -- like the ghosts of their breath -- in the low 20s. "I hate it," said Sara Goblinger (junior-art education), who didn't make it to a few of her first classes.

She had a new scarf from her aunt to help ward off the chill, but sleeping in was a little easier, with the outdoor temperature almost as low as Penn State's score in the bowl game. Well, almost.

Goblinger did make it to Art 220 (Figure Drawing) yesterday, where at least one person in the room was prepared: "My nude model in art class brought in his own little heater, it was so cold," she said.

Even the weathermen -- who see cold snaps and cloudy days come and go -- have been taking notice.

"It has been pretty dreary," said Todd Miner, a meteorologist with Penn State's Weather Communications Group, which provides daily forecasts to The New York Times. "We've had 17 consecutive days where there's been a trace or more of precipiation."

The white flakes have recently been flying, but they aren't always piling up -- as if town and campus were stuck in a snowglobe.

Overall, State College has recorded 21.8 inches of snowfall this winter, enough to make it the 10th snowiest season so far, Miner said. The winter of 1995-96 remains the current champion on that list.

The mercury in State College has not risen above the freezing point since Friday, thanks to all that imported cold Canadian air.

"We're in a trough," Miner said. "The jet stream is dipping pretty far south over the northeastern United States, and that's helping to supply the cold air."

Amy Lucas (sophomore-sociology) said she's still thinking of the air down South in Orlando, Fla., where she, her best friend and hundreds of other Penn State students spent part of their winter break at the Capital One Bowl.

"It was in the 70s every day, so it was lovely," Lucas said.

Barely two weeks later, short sleeves aren't really an option for those football fans anymore, she added.

Shanna Gallagher (junior-human development and family studies) has been employing all the supplies her closet can muster -- "as much as I can get on: turtleneck, long underwear, hat, scarf, gloves," she said.

Forecast models are pointing to more of the same, Miner said.

"There'll be some times at which the temperature will creep back to seasonable," he said. Around here, around now, that translates to a few degrees above freezing.

"That's about the best we can hope for," he added. "It doesn't look as though we're going to warm up for some time."