The University of Montana canceled classes and all but shuttered campus. Winds out of Hellgate Canyon blasted across the Oval, whipping up winter’s version of a dust devil while stacking drifts several feet deep.

With school out, many students spent the day at a downtown cafe, catching up on homework. Others watched the storm rage through the panel windows, out beyond which several bicycles sat buried.

Nobody said anything about March coming in like a lion. Nobody called it “Snowmaggedon” or the “Blizzard of ’14.” It was, they agreed, something called winter.

“This is what I expected Montana to be like,” said documentary filmmaker Michael Cody, a tall cowboy lookalike with a wide-brimmed hat and a bandanna tied around his neck. “I feel for those who have to be out in this. But it’s nice to be inside drinking a cup of coffee, visiting a good friend.”

City plow crews fought to stay abreast of the piling and drifting snow, though they looked to be fighting a losing battle. Cars were stuck in alleyways and side streets, and Mountain Line buses ran with shovels tethered to their grills.

Many left their cars behind, looking for other ways to navigate the city, even if required a set of skis.