by Snow in April is something that Minnesotans know all too well. Last Friday night the Twin Cities were hit with over 8 inches of snow.
The winter storm caused the cancellation of some events last weekend but others went on in true Midwestern fashion. However, there was still a fair share of obstacles to overcome with all of that snow.
The Midwest Journalism Conference was held in the Graduate Hotel last weekend and brought in students and journalists from various states around the region.
Many of the out-of-staters joked on Friday that they were hoping to not get snowed in, something that has happened in years past. On Saturday morning it wasn’t as much of a joke as it was a cruel and cold reality.
“Snow in April is always a bit of an oddity but living in the midwest it’s nothing like too out of the ordinary but we’re just hoping the roads are clear by the time we have to drive home,” explained University of Nebraska at Omaha senior, Jamie Harvey.
That drive home was around five and a half hours long with a portion taking the students through the open roads of Iowa. Jamie said the group’s main concern was if the snow didn’t clear up and was blowing across the road.
Before worrying about getting home though some attendees were worried about if they would even make it to the event itself.
Joel Crane, a multimedia journalist at KFYR-TV, talked about his team’s journey from their hotel to the event causing some morning stress “Our Uber almost got stuck more than once it was insane so wouldn’t recommend”.
Just down the street at Murphy Hall, the Northern Exposure visual journalism conference faced similar issues.
“I had to take a Lyft and I had to pay a lot of money to get in but my car was snowed in and my colleague Alyssa got in a little late and she had to have four people dig her out,” explained Aleah Venick, the events coordinator for the Hubbard School.
While the University of Minnesota campus events went on despite the rain, the hail, and the snow, event organizers wondered if attendance would have been better with different weather.
Venick said that many students who had signed up for the event did not show up, but this isn’t to say the event was empty by any means. Many attendees toughed it out and made their way through the snow this past weekend.
Overall attending students and professionals enjoyed the events and by Sunday things were starting to feel more like spring with temperatures reaching fifty degrees.
