With the New Year having begun, school is back in session, and Arctic winds had a surprise for us..

A natural phenomenon, known as a polar vortex, had recently been disrupted. A polar vortex is a strong area of low pressure at the North Pole, and when it gets disrupted, it sends cold air south, directly affecting the United States. Edison, New Jersey happened to be in the path of this vortex, and since it’s now inside an expanded zone of low pressure, we also received lots of high wind speeds and snow.

Edison High, consequently, was within the vortex’s path, and the area was forecasted to have snow, very high wind speeds, and extremely cold temperatures compared to the yearly average. Within the first week of January, wind speeds had already topped at 20.8 miles per hour, and there were also a few inches of snow, with more that followed in middle to late January.

With these particularly harsh conditions for January in Edison, school hours were at serious risk due to the high wind speeds and the icy roads caused by snow. In previous years, even small snowfalls and moderate wind gusts have caused delayed openings or half days. With a phenomenon like this slipping vortex that hasn’t appeared since January 2019, it was reasonable that many assumed the high possibility of future half-days, delayed openings, and even snow days if conditions were to have worsened.

While snow and heightened wind gusts may have not seemed like much of a problem, the damage they could’ve caused would have been quite an inconvenience. Starting at home, wind gusts may have damaged power lines that keep the house warm. Damaged power lines would have messed with HVAC systems (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning), causing heat systems to stop working properly, if at all. A damaged HVAC system potentially could’ve also messed with EHS’s heating system; however, the school has more complex HVAC systems so the effects were minor at most.

Taking a look at extracurricular activities, sports— particularly outdoor sports like track and field— were directly affected by the new weather conditions. The winter sports season, having ended, brought us into the pre-season of many sports, such as track and field, lacrosse, and tennis. While teams should presumably be practicing for the upcoming spring season, the track and field team in particular had to move to indoor practices recently as a result of the inclement weather.

“It really depends on the weather, I hope that there aren’t anymore indoor practices because they’re annoying for everyone . . . but we also need to get the work in depending when we have meets coming up,” said Coach Krajunus, a track and field coach.

Additionally, it was also a lot more difficult for athletes to get their practice in, for both team and individual sports. Practicing around the spring pre-season is essential for athletes trying to improve before the season begins, and people participating in outdoor sports particularly felt the fury of the turbulent circumstances.

A few members of the lacrosse team were particularly venting out about the weather.

“The weather has been really annoying, especially being new to lacrosse, and the winds only make it harder to play,” said Lucas Liu ‘28.

Some other lacrosse athletes were even concerned that “it’s too cold outside, we’re going to get sick easily at this rate,” said Jeremiah Hankins ‘27.

If you’re ever hit by winter weather as turbulent as this arctic storm was, be sure to bundle up. While your daily activities might be influenced a bit, wintry weather is something you rarely see nowadays in NJ, so be sure to enjoy it when it arrives.