If you’ve lived in Maryland for more than one season, I’m sure you’ve experienced our insane fluctuating weather.

We get sun in January and snow in March. There are even days where it can rain for an hour and be in the seventies the next! This raises the question; how does one protect himself from Mother Nature’s Maryland mood swings?

I personally have been living in Maryland all my life, but that doesn’t exclude me from getting blindsided by a day that was supposed to be in the thirties and cloudy, and then walking home from school in sunny fifty degree weather with a North Face drenched in sweat.

This backwards weather also poses a major threat to any athletes who have activities outside, you may end up stuck at practice with just a tank and shorts when they were expecting the sun and 50 degrees warmer, and end up freezing all practice.

Regular students also fight with the weather on a daily 2020basis, not knowing what the weather will be when you come out of school can be a major issue for students who need to walk home. Students may show up at school with a sweater and heavy jacket, but end up sweating home while carrying a heavy parka in their bag.

However there are simple solutions to combating this crazy weather. On a day you expect to be hot, always bring a light jacket just in case of heavy wind, random drop in temperature, or– if you are really unlucky–heavy rain. I always keep a jacket on me and even sweatpants during the spring in case of a random drop in temperature, considering that snow we got in March.

On cold days pack a bag that can fit a heavy jacket just in case the sun decides to come out for some odd reason, if you have space a light plain t shirt could also save you from dying of heat stroke on the walk home.

No one can truly prepare for the manic Maryland weather changes, but I hope these tips can save you from being completely blindsided by sixties in January and snow in March… or you could always keep any kind of clothing you would ever need in your gym locker like some students we know.