How much snow does it usually take to cancel schools?

[Violator]

 

[Audi Driver P.E.]

View attachment 19064

BS. They don't cancel schools in the Spokane area with less than 48" on the ground.

 

[JayKay PE]

Lies for LI/NYC.  If you get 5", plowing is fine/maybe a 2 hour delay if the school needs to use snow days.  Usually a delay is around 12", but we have super heavy wet snow.

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

where do you get all of these maps?! 

And I call BS on the CT one. When Malloy was governor, school was canceled for less. Because the state ran out of sand/salt and couldn't safely treat the roads. 

 

[snickerd3]

i call bs on the south central IL area listing of 3 inches.  it would take the threat of 6+ inches.  A part of the school is major rural and the township responsible for plowing only has 1 guy 1 truck.  If they can't get the farmer kids in safely they cancel for everyone, even if in town is plowed and driveable.

But really I don't see there ever being another snow day ever now with remote learning options in place.  

 

[kevo_55]

It says something about the source when you have the centimeters as a unit on the map.

Just saying......

 

[Road Guy]

I can concur the red is accurate

In the 8 years ive been in Colorado  12" is usually the limit for closing schools, although Id say that number decreases a little every year.

Anything over 24" is really too much for the plows to manage on the first day(& get the kids and parents to work and school) and your average mini SUV cant drive through it - Ive got 35" tires and at around 30 Inches of snow it starts to get tough to drive in unplowed snow

Were supposed to get our first real snow late sunday which means Monday will be a **** show (seems like it takes the DOT a storm or two to get the rust out)

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

BS. They don't cancel schools in the Spokane area with less than 48" on the ground.

Can confirm, being an Eastern WA native. Although my current area is a lot more lenient since it doesn't snow quite as much here.

 

[Road Guy]

Im assuming they plow for the school busses first?  I call BS on your average person driving in unplowed 48 in of snow.  

 

[MadamPirate PE]

Colorado also depends on temperature - warm, wet snow, they dgaf and won't close things. Multiple inches of dry, cold snow that compacts? School gets canceled. 

 

[Audi Driver P.E.]

Im assuming they plow for the school busses first?  I call BS on your average person driving in unplowed 48 in of snow.  

They do. They'll shut down for cold before snow here (somewhere around -15F). And it has to accumulate a LOT. School will stay open until they basically run out of places to plow it, which is somewhere around the 4 foot mark.

 

[Road Guy]

our first few years here there were many 18IN -20 IN snow days where schools werent closed, but recently they are pulling the trigger quicker on closing for 6+ inches - most people blame the Californians who moved here- I may be from Georgia, but i see driving in the snow as an opportunity to practice my redneck skills..

 

[jeb6294]

The problem with Southern Ohio is that the snow is usually preceded by freezing rain and ice. Snow is relatively easy to get rid of. When it's sitting on a 1/4" thick layer of ice, not so much.

 

[snickerd3]

The problem with Southern Ohio is that the snow is usually preceded by freezing rain and ice. Snow is relatively easy to get rid of. When it's sitting on a 1/4" thick layer of ice, not so much.

THis is usually what we get.  Most of our "snow" days have been for the 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice.  

 

[kevo_55]

I'd take 24" of snow over 1/2" of ice any day of the week.

 

[Dleg]

My favorite part of that map is its inclusion of Hawaii.

 

[squaretaper LIT AF PE]

California central valley inhabitant here, what is this "snow"?

 

[Tiger15]

True for New Orleans, LA. Half of an inch of snow shuts down the entire city: schools, business, gov agencies, etc.

I know that sounds soft to people from up north, but you have to realize:

• The city does not have road salt. They will put down sand, but they don't have much of that either.
  
• No one here has winter tires or tire chains or ice scrapers for windshields. They don't even sell them down here.
  
• No one here knows how to drive in the snow.
  
• Many homes and business have exposed, uninsulated water pipes entering the building. So if we have freezing temps, buildings can lose water and some people's pipes burst. So (for example) you can't send kids to school if there's a risk the building won't have water.
  

I just point all that out to say, there are a lot of legitimate reason that we're not setup to function in freezing temperatures.

 

[jeb6294]

When I was in school in Florida and was driving back and forth to Ohio a lot, I always dreaded going through Georgia in the winter if there was any chance of bad weather at all. I was fine with it but the natives would be terrified and their road crews were not equipped to deal with it at all.

While working in Jacksonville, FL there was a cold snap one winter and the headline on the news was that it was actually going to dip below freezing one night...oh the horror. Honest to God, people at work were asking if I was going to be at the office the next day because it was going to be below freezing and the roads were going to be sheets of ice. I almost fell out of my chair laughing. They actually thought roads would freeze the instant the temps hit 32deg.

 

[Road Guy]

You have to remember over half of the City of Atlanta is from the NE

When they had the blizzard of 93, it hit way down into South Georgia, our national guard unit got activated and I got to spend a few days pulling state troopers out of the ditches, apparently a rear wheel drive crown vic and no chains doesnt work out so well.. but it seemed like the country folk usually figure it out but the City people cause the issues