On Tuesday, January 28, Winter Storm Leon touched down in Charleston, South Carolina. Leon brought snow and ice, causing bridge closings and school closings across the Lowcountry. As a precautionary action due to potential ice and snow, the College cancelled all labs and activities for Tuesday, January 28 and Wednesday, January 29.
Prior to Leon, Grounds spent weeks cutting back cold damage to numerous plants all over campus due to the previous temperatures dipping into the teens. Paty Cowden, Groundskeeper at the College, said that it was the most extensive damage she has seen since being at the College. While it is normal for a few plant species to suffer cold damage on a yearly basis, such as lantana and some gingers, they have seen damage to plants that in normal winter temperatures show no signs of injury. The real toll will not be known until spring.
As far as Leon goes, they had never experience the effect of ice coating the plants for an extensive period of time. The obvious and immediate damage included branches snapping due to the weight of the ice. The long term damage remains to be seen.