Photos: First Substantial Snowfall Sends January Out in Style

January 31, 2021 • By McGregor McCance, cmm9vg@virginia.edu McGregor McCance, cmm9vg@virginia.edu

January 31, 2021
Person skiing across the Lawn with the Rotunda as a backdrop

Sunday’s snowfall piled high enough to make cross country skiing a fun option. (Photos by Sanjay Suchak, University Communications)

Winter has offered scant evidence of its authenticity so far in Central Virginia. A light dusting of snow here. A chilly rain shower there.

All that changed over the weekend as the first substantial snowfall of the season blanketed the University of Virginia’s Grounds and much of Virginia, reminding the University community that winter remains the official season of the day even as the spring academic semester gets under way Monday.

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Students and others took to the usual haunts to enjoy the weather, holding a snow sculpture competition on the Lawn, and throwing snowballs outside the Alderman Road residence halls and elsewhere. The snow was even thick enough to accommodate cross country skiing.

Take a look at some a few scenes from Sunday on Grounds.

Arial view of the Rotunda and Lawn covered in snow
Nearly perfect layers of fresh snow adorn the roofs of Lawn rooms and pavilions across the Academical Village.
Rotunda getting covered in snow as it falls
The ghostly trunk of a sycamore tree looks even more striking in the middle of a snowy Rotunda landscape.
Arial view of the memorial for enslaved laborers covered in snow
Arresting in any weather, the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers shows its enduring beauty under a coat of snow.
Snowing falling on Memorial on Grounds
Names etched on the interior of the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers.
Snow falling on the chapel bell tower
The bell tower of the University Chapel on Sunday.
Arial view of the gardens behind the Lawn houses
The geometry and symmetry of the pavilion gardens take on new beauty when seen from above.
Students walking on a snow covered Lawn
There’s no lawn quite like UVA’s Lawn for enjoying a snow day.
UVA statue covered in snow
The George Washington statue in the Academical Village appears unfazed, if chilly, framed by snow-covered magnolia leaves.
Snow covered trees and building reflecting off of a puddle on road
Facilities Maintenance crews cleared Engineer’s Way, where melting snow created a beautiful reflecting pool.

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November 22, 2024

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