“It’s freakin’ cold out here.”

“Can I borrow your shovel?”

“Here, let me help push you out of the driveway.”

Winter Storm Harper left residents of Northeast Ohio clearing out from under a blanket of snow, followed by frigid cold. But a three-day holiday weekend softened the blow, as most people stayed home and waited out the storm.

The Ohio Department of Transportation tweeted Sunday there were “over 100 plows on District 4 roads this afternoon.” District 4 encompasses six counties, including Portage County.

In Kent, the snowstorm prompted the city to implement a parking ban, which prohibited motorists from parking on city streets to make it easier for plows and emergency vehicles to get through.

The roads were so bad, the Summit County Sheriff’s Department issued a snow emergency that stated  “only those who feel it is necessary to drive should be on the roadways.”

Despite the poor conditions, Kent residents made the best of it.

“The snow hasn’t been touched by anyone, so it’s still up to here,” said Alyssa Turoczy, a resident of the Eagles Landing apartment complex, pointing to the snow climbing her boots. “It’s pretty thick, so it’s going to take a while to move everything out.”

Turoczy, a senior photography major, and Shannon Baranauskas, a senior digital media production major who carried a miniature shovel in hand from Dollar Tree, dug their cars out of the more than 10 inches of snow that covered the Kent area.

Temperatures in Kent reached a dangerous low of 7 degrees on Sunday, and minus 2 on Monday, according to weather.com. Cars were draped in deep piles of snow and rooflines were bordered by rows of icicles.

Despite the extreme cold, Collin Werner, a junior computer science major, said he made plans to go sledding down the hill near Taylor Hall on campus after he heard Northeast Ohio would get hit hard by the storm.

“It’s just about having fun,” Werner said with a smile Sunday. “It’s fun to wipe out and kind of be an idiot.”

Nearby, Faith Medlock, Samantha Hull and Sydney Chichos built a snowman on Blanket Hill. Hull, a sophomore fashion design major and Charleston, South Carolina, native, said she grew up at the beach — and Ohio’s snow came as a shock.

“The most (snow) I’ve seen before this was last year during finals week, … and I like snow a lot more than I like sand,” Hull said.

Medlock, a senior integrated math major, piped in and admitted she was glad to be on campus during the storm, rather than at home where she have to shovel her driveway.

“I can just have fun and play,” Medlock said. “It feels like when I was a kid again, not having responsibilities on a long weekend, and you can mess around.” 

Madison MacArthur, Lydia Taylor, Ella Abbott, McKenna Corson, Valerie Royzman, Jarett Theberge and Brandon Bounds contributed to this story.