Freshmen aren’t the only teens on Commonwealth Avenue this week. Early morning temperatures have been flirting with single digits all week, translating into a necessity for mittens, gloves, hats and headbands a stark contrast from this week last year when temperatures reached an unseasonable 72 degrees.
With the weather brutally frigid and little relief in sight, people say they are struggling to stay warm any way they can.
‘I just felt like I was turning into an icicle,’ said Sondra Matter, a College of Arts and Sciences junior, about her 20-minute walk to school Tuesday. Matter, who walks from her Brookline apartment to campus every day, said she stays warm by wearing thermals, double gloves, triple socks, ear bands and a scarf.
But some Bostonians are not as fortunate as to have so much winter gear. Kristin O’Connor, a spokeswoman for the state Public Heath Department, said the department is ‘especially concerned at this time about the homeless.’ The department just issued an alert for the public to look out for homeless people who are underdressed or appear to have been outside for a long period of time.
Hypothermia and frostbite are real dangers for people who are unprotected outside, O’Connor said. Hypothermia, which exhibits warning signs similar to frostbite tingling sensations in the hands and feet occurs when the body temperature drops below 95 degrees. Another sign of hypothermia is blue lips.
‘If it doesn’t go away when you go inside; the best thing to do is seek medical attention,’ O’Connor advised.
Despite the below-freezing temperatures, some say the snow allows them to appreciate the cold.
‘I would like it a lot more if it were snowing,’ said CAS senior Sally Bessee from Colorado. ‘I like the snow.’
And while everyone agrees it is cold outside, people seem to have differing predictions for the rest of the winter.
‘It will probably break in December,’ said Boston native Brendan McDonald, 35. A native of the Northeast, McDonald said, ‘It usually breaks, but it will be back.’
Matter disagreed, fearing, ‘I think it is going to be like this all winter,’ she said only half smiling. Hailing from Pennsylvania, Matter admitted she is used to this cold weather but not the wind tunnel that is Commonwealth Avenue.
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