Students fought Mother Nature’s latest curveball Tuesday — a blizzard that was expected to dump up to eight inches of snow on Story County.

The blizzard warning went into effect Tuesday afternoon and lasted until Wednesday morning.

To determine whether to close school, the university consults with the Department of Public Safety, the Ames Police Department, CyRide, campus facilities, city officials and the Iowa Highway Patrol, said Warren Madden, vice president for business and finance. Madden said the goal is to make the decision to cancel classes by 6 a.m. in order to inform the media.

“We may operate on campus even when a number of organizations may have canceled their activities,” Madden said. “In general, if CyRide is able to operate we continue to carry on.”

And CyRide always tries to carry on.

“For us not to run, the weather has to be so bad that visibility is down to zero — and even then we’ll try to run,” said Brent Klooster, transit trainer for Cyride. “But if the roads are impassable, that’s pretty much the only time we’ll not run.”

Klooster said service is only suspended until the city applies de-icing substances to city roads.

CyRide bus driver Adam Otto, senior in sociology, said his biggest concern is keeping control of the brakes on the bus during winter storm conditions.

He said the buses have air brakes, which lock up if they’re pressed too fast. In his year and a half of driving for CyRide, he has never had any real problems, he said.

Steven and Nancy French, team truck drivers for Anderson Trucking, based in St. Cloud, Minn., took a break at Cyclone Restaurant, 1811 South Dayton Ave., Tuesday night.

The couple was on their way to Winnipeg, Manitoba. They had left Fort Worth, Texas at about 2 a.m. Tuesday and had arrived in Sioux City 13 hours later.

Steven French said encountering a blizzard that makes travel impossible is nothing new.

He said the couple has had to wait for days for weather conditions to clear.

“In Washington, we sat for two days because of an avalanche warning,” he said.

“There’s nothing you can do — you can’t fight Mother Nature. If you do, you’re going to be in the ditch.”

Madden said students should decide on an individual basis whether it is safe to travel to campus.

“We ask faculty and staff to accommodate individuals who feel they shouldn’t travel to campus,” he said.

School has been canceled six times in the last eight years, including twice in 1997. The last cancellation occurred Jan. 29, 2001, Madden said.

Even if classes are canceled, the ISU power plant, ISU Police and the residence hall system stay open.

“We’re never completely closed,” Madden said.