Ellensburg has gotten the most snow of any year since winter 2016, in what has been dubbed the “snowpocolypse.” Since a large weather system moving in from the Pacific Ocean brought snow first to Seattle and then over the mountains to Ellensburg starting on Feb. 8, the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued multiple winter weather reports and even a blizzard warning. Between eight and 16 inches of snow cover the Kittitas Valley with the NWS predicting constant snow until the weekend.

Some students have expressed frustration that classes haven’t been canceled due to the weather, with an online petition which calls for a snow day reaching over five thousand signatures as of 3 p.m. Feb. 12 (for reference, roughly twelve thousand students attend CWU). In addition, and perhaps more whimsically, an event titled “shovel all the snow onto President Gaudino’s lawn” has been created by CWU students on Facebook with nearly two hundred marked as “going.”

Associate Dean of Health and Wellness Shawnté Elbert is from Indiana and says that she is used to weather like this. The first points of advice she had for students regards illness around this time of year when people are more often indoors and in contact with each other.

While classes haven’t been cancelled, multiple notices about the weather have been sent out by CWU President Gaudino advising that students use their best judgement regarding travel and safety.

“From the president to the provost to the deans, we encourage the same thing: use your best judgement. We don’t want anything to happen to our students here on campus,” Ebert said. “Work with your professors on the front end and make arrangements. We can work with you. The decision to stay open or not isn’t one that one person makes or one that we take lightly.”