Georgia Southern University students aren’t strangers to extreme weather. In the past two years, the campus had evacuated for two major hurricanes, Matthew and Irma.

Last week, Statesboro received a different kind of extreme weather. A severe winter storm hit much of the East Coast. People saw heavy snowfall from Savannah to Maine, and thousands of flights were cancelled, according to The New York Times.

For Statesboro, the winter storm brought its first snowfall in nearly thirty years, according to WTOC.

#SnowintheBoro

The snow began early on Thursday, Jan. 4 and continued into the afternoon. Bulloch County received anywhere from one to three inches of snow, with more snowfall on the southern end of the county than the north.

The snow and ice kept officials busy. 25 accidents were reported in Statesboro, though there were no fatalities or serious injuries.

Some roads were closed due to the icy conditions. Although the snow melted quickly, it refroze into ice during the following evening, making the roads just as treacherous as the day before.

For those not on the road, it was a welcome snow day. Snowball fights, miniature snowmen and snow angels abounded across the Boro. Students and locals alike posted their pictures of the rare snowfall on Twitter.

{{tncms-inline account=”GATALifestyle” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">📸Paulson Stadium🌨❄️☃️ <a href="https://t.co/nEmFWl6jEV">pic.twitter.com/nEmFWl6jEV</a></p>— #GATALifestyle (@GATALifestyle) <a href="https://twitter.com/GATALifestyle/status/948597271792357376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”948597271792357376″ type=”twitter”}}

{{tncms-inline account=”NoelleWalker7″ html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/snowintheboro?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#snowintheboro</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TheGeorgeAnne?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheGeorgeAnne</a> <a href="https://t.co/qPopMvQulD">pic.twitter.com/qPopMvQulD</a></p>— Noelle Walker (@NoelleWalker7) <a href="https://twitter.com/NoelleWalker7/status/948601912315834368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”948601912315834368″ type=”twitter”}}

{{tncms-inline account=”potejectbaby” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">One more time! <a href="https://twitter.com/TheGeorgeAnne?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheGeorgeAnne</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SnowintheBoro?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SnowintheBoro</a> <a href="https://t.co/S2U78x1fSu">pic.twitter.com/S2U78x1fSu</a></p>— placing GOD 1st and praying im doing right (@potejectbaby) <a href="https://twitter.com/potejectbaby/status/948664472452952065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”948664472452952065″ type=”twitter”}}

The bomb cyclone

The unusual snowfall in Statesboro resulted from a bomb cyclone that swept the Eastern Seaboard.

Bomb cyclones are the wintry cousins of hurricanes. They’re all formed through the same process, known as bombogenesis.

Bombogenesis occurs when a strong jet stream high in the atmosphere interacts with a low-pressure system. This leads to rotation and strong winds, with the strongest ones being at the center of the storm, according to Live Science.

In 1993, a bomb cyclone was dubbed the “storm of the century” when it caused record amounts of snowfall across the eastern seaboard.

Though the 2018 storm has passed, a large portion of the country is still feeling its effects.

Many areas in the Northeast experienced flooding. The cold still lingers, with some areas experiencing temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. The national death toll from the storm has reached 22 as of Jan. 7, according to CBS News.

Even the Southeast has seen lasting effects. Temperatures have fallen below freezing in Statesboro every night since the storm. In Florida, iguanas are freezing up and falling out of trees because they cannot move in such frigid temperatures.

Though much of the Statesboro ice lasted days after the snowfall, temperatures in the city are expected to rise to 73 degrees Fahrenheit by Thursday, according to The Weather Channel.