Seeking Squirrels Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I grew up in a 3" area. When I was 9 we moved to utah. The map shows my area as 12" but that's wrong. Definitely 24"+. I remember our first winter here, it was a really bad one. My brother and I woke up to like 3 feet of snow and started dancing around the room singing "snow day! Snow day!" My mom sat watching the news not even moving to get us ready because hello, tons of snow. Then there was no cancellation announcent. We were all like "???...what???" Then we had to rush to get ready for school that was certainly in session. I don't remember ever having a snow day. Seriously rude welcome to the state lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I grew up in a 3" area. When I was 9 we moved to utah. The map shows my area as 12" but that's wrong. Definitely 24"+. I remember our first winter here, it was a really bad one. My brother and I woke up to like 3 feet of snow and started dancing around the room singing "snow day! Snow day!" My mom sat watching the news not even moving to get us ready because hello, tons of snow. Then there was no cancellation announcent. We were all like "???...what???" Then we had to rush to get ready for school that was certainly in session. I don't remember ever having a snow day. Seriously rude welcome to the state lol. I knew a family that moved here from Utah and had a seriously rude awakening/welcome to our state. we don't care if it's raining - the soccer game is still on. they thought they had a free day. coach was not happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I grew up in the south where we didn't get much snow. Most of what we did get turned to ice, so we often had school canceled. We moved to the middle of nowhere in Oregon one year. The first time it snowed like crazy we were all outside playing in it and then we saw the school bus. :w00t: We were shocked - cause there was like tons of snow and stuff!!! My mom let us skip that day since we were all so unprepared, but we went the rest of the time we lived there (thinking these people were crazy). We moved back to the south by the end of January. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Χά�ων Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 The amount of snow is generally irrelevent, it is the ice that gets school cancelled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyinTN Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 We had an inch on Wednesday --everything closed in our county. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 For us, it says 12". Really it's not so much the amount, but the winds that accompany it because 6" can drift in the back roads. But, the biggest issue is really ice. We tend to Baja around in the snow. When we lived in Newburg, OR...HA...a snowflake, literally a snowflake would do it. Not two snowflakes...just one. One, itty, bitty, pretty snowflake. First the neighbors freaked out. Then the school buses started delivering the kids. Then the town shut down...maybe by the time they all got inside, there was an 1/8" on the ground. Being Midwesterners, we found this quite amusing and to show off our climate independence would pack a lunch, throw water and juice in the car, and head out for Newport, Tillamook, Astoria, or maybe up to Mt. Hood. It just depended on our mood. The neighbors thought we were completely insane! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I'm in a 24" area. The second comment there sums up my experience: As a Minnesotan, I've never had a "too much snow" day. We just have "too f-ing cold" days. I remember seeing snowplows going down the streets near my neighborhood two at a time, almost side-by-side. All night long. I drove downtown Mpls for the first time in drivers training during a snowstorm. I can drive in snow. But not on ice. I really feel for the drivers in Atlanta - those roads were scary! I think it only takes one bad school bus accident to set the "seemingly overkill" school-closing standards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 24 inches, but it really depends on so much. We live on the prairie, so even no new snow but lots of snow on the ground + high winds can cause blizzard conditions, cancelling school. And of course the extreme cold. And the icy roads. (I grew up in an "any snow" area!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in CA Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I grew up in a 24+" area (WNY), but later lived in NJ (3") and of course CA (any). I miss those snow days! Sooooo fun. For such a supposedly high cutoff, we certainly had a lot of snow days! Of course we paid for it by staying in school through, one year, July (!). Hmmm, I wonder what happened to people's graduation and vacation plans? I never thought about that. Perhaps it was a simpler time. I doubt they do that now, right? (I mean, tack on days in June/July until the time has been made up) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyinLA Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Here in Louisiana, we are in the "any snow" part of the US, and we have had 5 snow/ice days in the last 2 weeks. It was a good call for sure, as we have had hundreds of car wrecks. This second batch of snow (well, ice) over the last few days, they put curfews in place in most of the towns. It was really bad on the roads. But on a lighter note, it'll be 70 tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 There are definitely days I'm SO THANKFUL I homeschool when they don't cancel and it's just hellish out there. The school is about a 5 minute walk away, but I would not want to walk there in such crappy conditions. I was saying the same thing yesterday when our local schools started up in 105+ temperatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upward Journey Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 18 degrees ABOVE zero!? That truly sounds delightful. I would have been out skiing. :D It's 12 above, feels like -5 right now and it this point I barely feel like I need a hat for that. It's been quite a winter. We got 8 inches of snow today. Nothing was cancelled. Our local schools have only closed a couple times in the past 15 years until this year. And it's more due to extreme cold than snow. It more has to be dangerously icy for them to cancel for road conditions. Oops. I wish too! Negative 18. We'd be out skiing as well at +18 :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 24 inches, but it really depends on so much. We live on the prairie, so even no new snow but lots of snow on the ground + high winds can cause blizzard conditions, cancelling school. And of course the extreme cold. And the icy roads. (I grew up in an "any snow" area!) You forgot about canceling for extreme heat too, :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I would love to see a map for canceling due to temperature. Our kids have inside recess when temps are below zero, ans school is cancelled when wind chill dips below -30ish. I think the extreme cold cancellations are due more to the kids walking and the fear of buses not working correctly. Dh and I were driving home late on a Saturday in a snowstorm with temps around -11. We ended up making an impromptu stop at a hotel when I envisioned us sliding into a ditch with five kids in those temps. I can see when school districts feel the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 It seems like our area cancels for any snow, but ime it has more to do with ice. We live in an area with lots of back roads and mountains and if even one or two roads are too icy for buses to safely travel, the district cancels. Our buses aren't equipped with the safety equipment northern buses seem to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 The amount of snow is generally irrelevent, it is the ice that gets school cancelled. This. I live in SC. We live not far from the mountains and some schools within our district are ON the mountain. Those roads ice up quickly. There was one bus accident on the day they closed school early - I'm grateful they didn't push for school in the following days, just because there wasn't much "snow" on the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatHomeschoolDad Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Very local thing here in NJ. DW's diistrict is a town that was once mostly a summer resort, with whole sections of houses on twisty lake roads, so they will close when other schools don't just because the busses can't navigate in the conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 When we first moved here 13 years ago, it seemed as though one snowflake falling would cancel school. Then one winter maybe five or so years ago, they cancelled school because of single snowflakes for a few days--and then it *really* snowed (for here). They had to keep the schools closed for a week. And then there were a few more days they had to close that winter. They were afraid they would have to keep the school open until July to get the days back. Ever since then, they've been much more cautious and they don't close school unless they really need to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Here they close for any, but we simply don't have the resources to maintain the roads with ice or snow. We moved here from SoCal.....no snow closures, just riots and earthquake closings. :crying: I grew up in Africa where snow was only on top of Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro. We never had a snow day, but we did have to stay indoors for a few hours due to cape buffalo roaming around looking for water. :wacko: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 here it is all timing - if streets and sidewalks can't be cleared in time then school is called for 6 inches or more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Even though the data for my home isn't on there, as I said, for years they never canceled. Other than some special ed students, no students are bussed in my district. And they used to continue to hold school because it was the two solid meals a day many kids would get. They have changed gears though - in part because so many teachers struggle to get to school from the burbs when there's really a lot of snow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Our schools are closed tomorrow. So far we have 0 flakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 I grew up in a 24+" area (WNY), but later lived in NJ (3") and of course CA (any). I miss those snow days! Sooooo fun. For such a supposedly high cutoff, we certainly had a lot of snow days! Of course we paid for it by staying in school through, one year, July (!). Hmmm, I wonder what happened to people's graduation and vacation plans? I never thought about that. Perhaps it was a simpler time. I doubt they do that now, right? (I mean, tack on days in June/July until the time has been made up) Around here, Seniors don't make up snow days but everyone else does, so graduations are not changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 I honestly don't like these types of things - because people frequently fail to understand how the difference in terrain (hill vs flat) can affect how much snow can be dealt with. how the climate of the area (humid vs dry) affects if it's really snow - or ice trying to pretend it's snow. I get sick and tired of listening to Midwestern transplants making sanctimonious pronouncements about how we are so wimpy. they usually learn the hard way. Right on. And then there are the microclimates within Western Washington. I grew up around Tacoma, but the weather in north Whatcom County is a whole 'nother ball game. I get so ding dang sick of patronizing comments about our weather management practices. If it's better somewhere else, by all means go back there & leave us more space! : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 I lived in a 3 inch zone as a child.... every county but mine would cancel school. We only cancelled if the local university did first, they never did. In 1985 we had SEVERAL weeks of sub-zero temps with heavy snowfall, everyone else was out for a total of 8 school days.... not us. My mom actually let me stay home from school and told them that there was no way she was going to let me on a bus in those conditions. We lived out in the sticks on gravel roads 1/2 hr drive (in nice weather) from school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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