(Vanity) Do your school close on account of cold?

[yankeedame]

I'm here in the Dayton, OH area. We are going through a blast of "dangerous" cold. Today 8 degree expected high, with wind chill of -10 to -15. Otherwise sunny.

I've got the radio on and I'm stunned the number of school closings! (Not to mention the slightly smaller number of "2 hour delays".)

Do you folks have this no-school-today-because-its-too-cold?

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

How long do children have to wait at a bus stop unattended by parents waiting for a bus? How many of the children walk home? Is that a factor?

[mware]

Nope, we were open. My car didn't start up this morning but we were open. Only one student absent in my class.

[Myrddin]

If we closed the schools in Pocatello for that kind of temperature range, they would be shut 6 weeks a year. No, people here put on a jacket, gloves, knit cap and go to school. It's normal winter weather here. It's common to have at least 2 weeks of subzero ambient temperatures. We have plenty of wind too. Windy days come with sustained winds of 15 to 45 MPH with gusts to 70. That's normal here. It is a principal reason that I've had to invest in steel spinners as targets at the range. There are very few days when the wind is calm enough to hang a conventional paper target and have it still standing by the time you can walk back to the firing line.

[Myrddin]

I bet it has to do with block heaters. No block heaters, busses are a pain to start.

My next door neighbor has a block heater on his diesel truck. All the houses on my street have an electrical socket between the garage doors to make the practice of using a block heater easy. I don't have a block heater on my F150 4x4. I've had no problem starting it all winter...even on days when in was -9 F. It does take a few extra minutes to scrape the ice off the windshield and warm the engine up sufficiently to keep the windshield clear with the defroster. I have to drop my son off at work by 8:00 AM. We leave at 7:40 AM (before sunrise). That is typically the coldest point in the day. We had 2 weeks of morning between zero and -13.

It warmed to +48 F yesterday. The snow has been melting off the roof. It has been there since mid December.

[hinckley buzzard]

Cleveland area, temps were about -4 this am and all the schools were closed. I grew up around here many years ago, schools never closed for cold, despite many days colder than this. Only high snowfalls such that traffic was paralyzed.

I honestly think the school closings today were CYA--nobody wanted some kid to get frost-bite and have their parents sue. Can't think of any other reason.

[Right Wing Assault]

You are right. The city kids don't have hats or gloves and wear $100 basketball shoes. Some of them do have to walk a couple miles, I hear. No good in -25 wind chill. (I've tried stupid things like that.)

For sure some of them will get frozen ears. And whose fault will that be? Mom? No, she can't afford a hat and gloves! Got to make the payments on the cell phone and the widescreen HDTV. Dad? Who's that? The principal of the school or the superintendent for not calling off school? OF COURSE!

[CARDINALRULES]

1978 right?

Had some pictures of us kids outside playing in the snow.

Most people don't realize that FL can get bloody cold.

We used to leave the sprinklers on so the trees in our yard would be coated in ice that would sparkle in the sun.

[lastchance]

That sounds about right. I lived in Gainesville for 2 years the winters there were miserable. Cold, wet, overcast and windy.

It is a bit chilly here in St. Lucie right now. Must be a front coming through.

[redheadtoo]

Oh, is it cold in your part of the country? Here in southern California the temperature was about 84. It was so warm that I had to take off the sweater I usually wear during the winter. I found my neighbors sunning themselves at the pool. Looks like another warm one tomorrow.

[Chickensoup]

Are electronic programmable thermostats illegal in Mass or something?


You have just thought of another way to make unions unnecessary

[uptoolate]

I didn't realize we needed more.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Ha. A couple years back we had the coldest temperature ever recorded in Illinois, -38 degrees. The wind chill was -80. I believe this was caused by global warming.

The schools closed. At some point I won't send the kids to school whether they're open or not.

Chicago is much more fun. They cancel classes but leave the schools open because the kids have to go somewhere while their moms are at work. Not sure where, or who, the dads are though.