A weeklong low in temperatures for the first week in December ended Thursday with an estimated five inches of snowfall that caught many off guard.

According to weather.com, the temperature was 22 degrees at 7 p.m. was 22 degrees and continued to decline as the night went on.

The average temperature during the past week was 18 degrees, 17 degrees colder than the normal temperature this time of the year, local climatologist Dalias Price said. Wednesday morning, the temperature got as low as 4 degrees, he said.

“The colder the air, the less snow that’s in the air,” Price said.

So when a bit of warmer air moved into Central Illinois from the Southwest, it brought with it moisture in vapor form, which turned into snow and covered the campus and the city.

Usually, this area only gets four inches of snow during the entire month of December, which has already been surpassed with this snowfall alone, Price said.

“We get normally 17 inches the whole winter, mostly in January,” Price said. “We usually have snow one Christmas out of four. It came early this year.”

Jamie Baxter, a sophomore accounting major, said she was surprised when she woke up saw the snow.

“Actually it wasn’t that bad,” Baxter said. “It takes away some of the coldness. and it’s pretty.”

On campus, plows ran throughout the day, attempting to clear paths for students to get to some of their last classes of the semester.

Off campus, the weather increased business for Priceless Towing Company.

Business remained steady all day, said manager Jamey Himes, who was at the site of the company’s 15th tow of the day.

“I’d say it’s doubled its normal business,” Himes said.

At approximately 5 p.m., business showed no signs of slowing down.

“Actually, it’s gotten a lot busier since school got out and people are getting off work,” Himes said.

Because of the road conditions, off-campus classes in Effingham and Champaign were cancelled, according to WCIA-TV.

Aside from traffic problems, some students are happy about the snow.

“It’s snow in all its white, powdery goodness,” said Patrick Veach, a freshman industrial technology major with teacher certification. “The cold weather sucks, but if you bundle up good enough, you can get through it.”

Cayla Biehler, a sophomore elementary education major, walked to class from Ninth Street in the snow. Around 5 p.m., she waited in Buzzard Hall for her friend to bring her some snowshoes.

“I didn’t think it was supposed to snow this much,” Biehler said. “It’s exciting because I’m going to go home and go sledding.”

Price said although winter temperatures have dropped below zero in Charleston in the past, this is the coldest weather he expects all season.

“This has been very prolonged, day after day,” Price said. “Usually, we get a break.”

The last time the town saw excessive snow this early in December was in 1973. During finals, Charleston had 20 inches of snow in one storm, Price said.

Another unique event occurred Thursday night as well. The sun set at 4:29 p.m., the earliest it will set all year, he said.