Just when you thought that spring had finally come to stay with the warm weather at the beginning of April, wind blew in cooler air and, in some cases, seemed like it was trying to carry people. And then came the thunderstorm of all thunderstorms that covered a good portion of Western Pennsylvania in wind and water.
By Maddie Gillespie
Editor-in-Chief
Just when you thought that spring had finally come to stay with the warm weather at the beginning of April, wind blew in cooler air and, in some cases, seemed like it was trying to carry people. And then came the thunderstorm of all thunderstorms that covered a good portion of Western Pennsylvania in wind and water.
On April 16, Seton Hill University (SHU) experienced a thunderstorm that whipped walkers with high winds and pounded windows with rain. Although this storm did not leave SHU with several inches of snow like February’s
“Snowpocalypse,” it did succeed in uprooting, toppling and splitting 14 trees around campus.
Trees were blown over or snapped from their trunks in front of Brownlee and on top of the hill around the Project Forward building. If you look today you will see a small sapling at the end of Brownlee’s sidewalk heading towards main campus in place of its larger predecessor.
If you take a walk within the next few days of nice weather, you might even be able to still see parts of the large trees that were split by the storm’s winds near Project Forward. SHU had to hire a tree cutting service on April 17 to cut up the larger portions of the trees in this area. Some of the pine trees that were felled were already dead, but plenty of living trees met their end as well. However, all of the trees that did not survive the storm have been recycled into wood material to make plywood, or taken to where SHU stores its organic clippings and plant extras off to the side of parking lot D.
After going out for a walk or looking at the trees on your way to Wal-Mart, you might gain a new appreciation for the towering sycamores that line SHU’s long drive. Not even April’s biggest, worst thunderstorm (yet) could move the roughly hundred year old guardians from their roots as planted by the Sisters of Charity.
You can rest assured though, that spring has finally sprung via flowers. This April’s “shower” may have left SHU a little more leafless than before, but spring is here and blossoms are blooming like pop-ups everywhere on campus. So be sure to get outside sometime soon and de-stress during these last few weeks of final projects, papers and exams to enjoy the warm weather and benefits of a healthy (if slightly threatening) rainstorm.