Depending on where you are today, you might be seeing a lot of activity, both in the weather outside and on your dating apps. If you happen to be on the east coast of the U.S., you're likely in the path of the wintery "bomb cyclone" that has been steadily pummeling the coast since early Friday morning.
But before you bemoan the hellish commutes and ice-cold wind chills, you may want to consider a silver lining: The unforgiving weather might up your chances of finding a date.
According to data that Hinge has shared with Refinery29, the bomb cyclone may have contributed to a flurry of activity (get it?) on the dating app.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
On Wednesday, leading up to the storm, activity on the app spiked by 27% more than the norm, and when the storm hit on Thursday, there was a 16% increase in activity, presumably as people found out that they had a snow day.
As you can probably imagine, it's not unheard of for people to be swiping on dating apps a little more while everyone's snowed in. Hinge also reports that during the winter storm Juno in 2015, activity on the app spiked by 27% when the snow started falling, and then surged to 47% throughout the rest of the day. And leading up to winter storm Stella last year, people were twice as active on Hinge as usual, and were even 10 times more chatty with their matches on the day of the storm, compared to a typical Tuesday morning.
"The storm is a great conversation-starter for those looking for a snow day date," Jean-Marie McGrath, director of communications at Hinge, tells us. And suffice it to say, it's a good time to brush up on your pick-up lines and really slide into that cutie's DMs.
That said, we won't blame you if your motivation to go outside for a date doesn't match the vigor of your swiping abilities. If you're not quite ready to set up a date for today, there are still plenty of ways to enjoy a winter date — under less blizzard-like conditions.
Read these stories next: