Aleksander Polenur found it hard to help his daughter move into her dorm Sunday while parked on a large pile of snow.

So he opened his trunk, pulled out his orange shovel and started to move the snow in front of Queen Anne’s Hall himself.

“Sometimes you need to come prepared,” he said.

Like Polenur, students and their families were greeted by slushy streets and icy patches as they returned to the campus this weekend. Chilling winds and piles of snow caused minor inconveniences for the almost 8,300 students settling back into their dorms as university staff worked overtime to clean the campus.

According to the National Weather Service, the Prince George’s County area received between 3 and 5 inches of snow over the weekend — less than the forecasted 4 to 8 inches.

But even with the lower than expected accumulation, freshman elementary education major Dori Polis, who moved into Queen Anne’s Hall Saturday, said the weather caused traffic delays between Philadelphia and College Park.

“It usually takes my dad two hours to drive from Philadelphia to College Park, but on the way home, he said it took him four,” she said.

Maggie Hannapel, a freshman criminology and criminal justice major, said the snow made it harder to move her belongings into Queen Anne’s Hall.

“It was really hard to get the refrigerator up the steps. I also didn’t realize I left my computer on a large pile of snow,” she said.

University workers put in a great deal of overtime to clear the snow, said Kevin Brown, assistant director of Landscape Services. In total, his division sent out 80 employees to clear curbs and streets and 200 more to break up ice around the campus.

Brown said harsh winds made it difficult to clear the campus. “It was frustrating for my workers because after plowing all day Saturday, we returned on Sunday and had to do it all over again,” he said.

University Police also helped with move-in by directing students to unloading zones. Even with the help, Hannapel said the snow made it hard for her to find a space close to her dorm.

“We ended up double parking in front of a crosswalk,” Hannapel said.

At the University Courtyard Apartments, sophomore journalism major Mary Robbins also had trouble with the snow. After looking around for plowed parking spaces, she and her family ended up parking on the sidewalk. Snow continued briefly Monday when flurries started during the late afternoon, leaving parents quickly covering up students’ electronics with trash bags as they pulled out their umbrellas to finish moving in.

Freshman letters and sciences major Marci Strauss said she purposely waited until Monday to move in, hoping campus conditions would improve.

“I was completely surprised it started to snow; luckily, I just missed it,” she said.