As a bitter-cold January left town this weekend, many around the Penn State community are wondering what the duration of winter has in store.

While this January did not break any low temperature or precipitation records, it came close, according to Campus Weather Service President Frank Cianfrani.

"We had temperatures get below zero for the first time since Jan. 20, 1997," Cianfrani said. "We were also within a couple of degrees of breaking record lows for a couple of nights throughout the month."

The average temperature for the month was 22 degrees, which was about 4.5 degrees below normal, Cianfrani said. The record average low for the month, set in 1967, is 19 degrees.

For James Calixte (sophomore-premedicine), a native of Haiti, the frigid temperatures required a lot of adjustments. "These cold temperatures were the worst I have ever experienced," Calixte said. "I have to wear five layers of clothes just to go out. I am not used to wearing a lot of clothes, so this is a big change for me."

While Calixte has modified his wardrobe to accommodate the cold temperatures, several other students decided to continue with their lives as usual. "I didn't change any of my plans because of the weather," Joanna Meinen (sophomore-management) said. "I did, however, prepare for the weather a little more this year than last year."

Meinen said she noticed a big change in the temperature and snowfall this January. "It seems like there were more snowstorms last year, but this year was definitely colder," she said.

Several winter storms dumped 21 inches of snow on the region this January. This was 10 inches above normal but not enough to break the record of 41.7 inches that fell in 1978.

With large amounts of precipitation falling into the region during last February's snowstorm and September's Hurricane Isabel, 2003 was one of wettest years on record. While temperatures have been unseasonably cold across the eastern part of the country, areas out west have experienced relatively warmer temperatures.

"There has been a large trough across the eastern half of the U.S. keeping us cold, and a large ridge across the western part of the country keeping them warm," Cianfrani said. "The country is divided into two sections: one half above average temperatures and the other below normal."

This trough, an elongated area of low pressure, is expected to remain over the region for a few weeks, while the ridge, an elongated area of high pressure, is expected to remain out west. "We are expecting it to remain cold," Cianfrani said. "Temperatures look like they will stay well below normal for the first half of February."

Calixte said he wonders if State College will thaw out at all before summer.

"I'm afraid we might not get any decent temperatures here until June," he said. "But I hope that I am wrong."