What is your weather like right now?

[Addie]

Apparently everything in the eastern half of MA is closed on Wednesday. Some parts could get up to a foot of snow. It's February people, get used to the idea of winter! I remember when I was a kid and would walk 2 miles to school, uphill...both ways...

One of the main reasons schools close with the snow is insurance. The janitors union does not allow for the members to report to their school too early. So the walks are not cleared in time for the arrivals of the children. If one of the kids fall or get seriously hurt, it will cause the insurance rates to go up. And the reason businesses closing, do you want another Atlanta traffic jam?

 

[Addie]

Something very strange happened in the California desert today. Water fell from the sky! YAY!!

Those Indians sure know how to dance!

 

[pacanis]

It's 5F. And it feels like 5.

 

[Macgyver1968]

It's 25f/-4C with a light dusting of snow.

 

[cave76]

One of the main reasons schools close with the snow is insurance. The janitors union does not allow for the members to report to their school too early. So the walks are not cleared in time for the arrivals of the children. If one of the kids fall or get seriously hurt, it will cause the insurance rates to go up. And the reason businesses closing, do you want another Atlanta traffic jam?

It always comes down to money, doesn't it?

 

[pacanis]

Personally, I've always found it very hard to slip and fall when knee deep in fresh snow

 

[taxlady]

It always comes down to money, doesn't it?

Well, money is the only way to convince some people. It does have the beneficial effect of fewer injuries. Now you or I would consider that reason enough, but when some school board is being mingy, saving money on insurance is a good reason.

 

[Addie]

Personally, I've always found it very hard to slip and fall when knee deep in fresh snow

But you are not a child and wouldn't be jumping into deep snow. Snow that comes up to your knees, can come up to the shoulders of the smallest kids. And if it is heavy wet snow, that is not a good thing. By the time the kids got to school, they would be soaking wet. Sometimes you have to think like a child and think ahead of the stupid things they do. I'd rather give the kids a day off from school.

 

[pacanis]

I was thinking like a child, Addie
When I was a child I never slipped or got hurt walking on sidewalks or roads that were not maintained yet. People slip on ice or hardpack, not the deep stuff. And certainly not a 60 lb kid carrying 15 lbs of books in a knapsack. That's like driving with 200 lbs of sand in your trunk. That kid can go anywhere

 

[GotGarlic]

In places where it doesn't snow much typically, and there are not enough snowplows to clear the roads, they close the schools because otherwise school buses would get stuck or in accidents. We just wait until it melts enough so they can get through.

It's 39°F here. Hm, that's almost tomorrow's high - 40 and showers expected.

 

[Dawgluver]

We typically get lots of snow here, and the schools have closed regularily this year, maybe because it's the 4th worst snow and wind record since 1906.

I grew up in northern North Dakota, and as I recall, the only time they ever closed school was in a massive blizzard, when we had 8 feet of snow covering our houses!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

It's 8°F, feels like 17°F, no wind. I took the trash out without putting on a coat. No problem. If the wind had been blowing I would have left the trash on the porch and waited till tomorrow.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Was out from mid-afternoon on today and it almost felt like spring! I had my heavy jacket on and it was unzipped from both the top and bottom so that only the mid-part near my waist was actually connected. It was nice to walk around outside and not feel like Nanook of the North.

One of the main reasons schools close with the snow is insurance. The janitors union does not allow for the members to report to their school too early. So the walks are not cleared in time for the arrivals of the children. If one of the kids fall or get seriously hurt, it will cause the insurance rates to go up. And the reason businesses closing, do you want another Atlanta traffic jam?

Addie, the roads were clean and dry today and we got caught in a big traffic jam. Why? Cuz some people drive like flaming idiots no matter what the road conditions are. And we are not Atlanta. The northern cities have plows and road treatments, things that are not common or plentiful down south. Besides, the previous bad snow on Jan. 25th had schools and government offices closing...even though only the schools were showing up on the TV crawler. Since we didn't see government offices listed we headed up to Worcester to go to the Health Connector office. Closed. EVERYWHERE else we went was open for business. Our local post office was open. The restaurant we ate at was busy. People were doing their jobs...as long as they weren't MA government employees.

In my opinion, schools feel like they need to give notice that they'll be closed much earlier than in the past because so many families have two working parents and they have to make child care plans the night before. It hits the family hard if they wake up for school and work and find out there is no school.

 

[pacanis]

The working parents is a good point, CG.

It's clear and calm here. Lots of stars out and a crescent moon. It's supposed to get into the twenties today. Spring is right around the corner. uh-huh.

 

[Oldvine]

It's finally raining. Yay!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

14°F, feels like -2°F with the wind chill. I was just out without a coatb and really didn't feel chilly for almost 5 minutes.

 

[Dawgluver]

We're at 20°F, a heat wave! It snowed all day, a nice, fluffy, no wind in your face snow. Very pretty.

 

[taxlady]

-8°C (18°F) here. I was out for a smoke in a t-shirt and a cotton shirt and that was fine. Yes, I was wearing trousers, etc.

 

[CarolPa]

When I went to school we never had a snow day in 12 years of school. No school busses. We walked. Sometimes the teachers didn't make it.

 

[Macgyver1968]

Did you grow up in Pittsburgh?