Cleveland State University canceled all classes and closed business offices Thursday due to extreme weather conditions.

Classrooms were empty, hallways were quiet and the campus was almost a ghost town during what is usually one of the busiest weeks of the year, the first week of the spring semester for 2026.

Heavy lake-effect snow started falling late Wednesday and continued through to mid-afternoon Thursday. Driving was difficult, a particular problem for CSU which is largely a commuter campus.

School authorities alerted the community at 5:20 a.m. that they were shutting campus for the day.

However, not everybody got the day off. Essential employees were called in. They included Viking Marketplace workers, as Cleveland State has a sizable population of students who live on or near campus and rely on the university’s catering services.

Marcia Lamont, Viking Marketplace supervisor, said staff doesn’t know how busy the Viking Marketplace will be on snow days, so it is their job to be prepared for any amount of students.

“We're central workers, so we have to come in. When we have a snow day, we don't know how busy it's going to be,” Lamont said. “We don't know if students are going to come in, so we have to make sure we're prepared for anything. We have the whole dining room open.”

Local media reported the following snow totals through mid-afternoon:

• Cleveland - 5.0 inches (at the airport as of Thursday morning)
• Pepper Pike: 14.0 inches
• Woodmere: 12.7–13.0 inches
• University Heights: 9.9–10.5 inches
• Parma: 8.1 inches
• Lakewood: 4.4–6.0 inches
• Strongsville: 5.0 inches