By Turner Russell

Recently, many places around the country, including Atlantic, Iowa have been experiencing extremely cold weather that has caused a wide variety of problems. The Atlantic School District has had several late starts this winter due to extremely cold weather and even more dangerous wind chill temperatures.

Junior Mitch Taylor said that he thinks the worst part about the cold weather is having to go outside and start his car early in the morning. Taylor continued saying that although he likes the cold, he thinks it will be “a lot nicer” when the temperature heats up and that he is “ready for some nice weather”. Junior April Agboglo said that she thinks the cold weather has negatively affected students activities saying, “Obviously, nobody wants to swim in freezing cold weather.”

Even with all the cold temperatures recently, it hasn’t stopped many of Atlantic’s students from being excited about having warm and sunny weather to enjoy in the near future. Taylor said that he is looking forward to being able to wear shorts and t-shirts, “I’m getting tired of these sweats” he explained. Paige Anstey, another junior at AHS, said she will “want to be outside for anything” when the temperature heats up, and Agboglo said she likes warm weather because she can “go wherever” she wants and “take road trips.”

Anstey also described how she thinks it will be harder for kids to focus during school when it gets warm because “Most kids would rather be outside than in school.” Taylor mentioned that he thinks that things in school will “definitely” go smoother when warmer weather arrives. On the other hand, Agboglo commented that she thinks warm weather will not always make students happier because there are “not as many gift giving holidays” when it is warm.

Although many students in Atlantic are longing for warmer weather, according to http://www.weather.com/weather/5-day/Atlantic+IA+50022:4:US  the forecast currently shows there to be several chances for a small amount of snow as well as freezing temperatures over the weekend and into next week. Much of Iowa will also likely be affected by the latest winter storm named Maximus that will be crossing a large area of the midwest in the coming days. See:http://www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/winter-storm-maximus-forecast-california-rockies-midwest-northeast-snow-ice-20140129 for more information about Winter Storm Maximus.