At winter's height, the historic Quad goes bare

The historic Quad sported a rare dead-of-winter look today: bare ground with a hint of green.

A full retreat by Old Man Winter is needed to reveal bare ground during the climatologically coldest part of winter. In the last 10 days, the high temperature in Lewiston has topped out above 40 degrees six times. Storms twice dropped more than 1.5 inches of rain in the last week. And gusty south winds, hitting 45 mph on Jan. 18, helped to rake the Quad bare.

The early-spring campus look comes during Winter Carnival festivities, yet the 50-degree warmth promised to comfort one group of Batesies: those prepping for the annual Winter Carnival Puddle Jump at Lake Andrews, scheduled for late afternoon.