But...but...the radio saaaaidddd we had no school!

[kaetchen]

Which is where having an awesome boss comes in handy.

Hahah yeah.

I told him what happened, and he was like "What an idiot." Then made a joke about telling everyone that we were closed. Haha

God and it's only going to get crazier today what with all the local schools closing....so far no one is arguing with me today.

We're susposed to get 6-9 inches of snow tomorrow, so we'll have many fun calls to deal with.

You getting excited?

Supposedly my school has that on the student portal. However, after looking at every page (there is no search function), I couldn't find it. The only way we have is to turn up and see if there's a note on the door. Because teachers don't have access to our email unless they asked for it at some point, and the phone numbers they give us on the syllabus is for their office. Which if class is cancelled, they won't be in.

Well, on our main page, it will say if the college is closed (for whatever reason).

However, most people don't even bother to look that up (or know WHAT the site is). I had a girl call me one night and ask what kind of college we were.
"Like. I can't even find your website, I looked on Google and it wasn't there. Are you guys like a graphic arts or technical college?"

If you search on Google, it's the FIRST 6 pages of hits that comes back. >.<

[BookstoreEscapee]

Who else is hoping she missed a pop quiz?

[coldcupofjoe]

Last semester for one of my classes I was the only person who showed up. The main campus fifty miles away had cancelled classes but my campus didn't. The instructor walked and we waited for about ten minutes then decided to give me a pop quiz.

The only question on it was 'What is your name?'

My answer? 'Crocko the Masticating Alligator.'

I aced it.

[Shangri-laschild]

We're susposed to get 6-9 inches of snow tomorrow, so we'll have many fun calls to deal with.

You getting excited?

noooo.....god...*reduces to gurgling mass*...so far no calls but I'm all by myself today till you come in

[TryNotToBeThatOne]

My school has a phone number to call, and it has a crawling banner on the top of every webpage that the IT dept controls for any school wide emergency announcements.

My school has a phone number with an automated message. However, & this is the fun part, technically we are always under adverse weather conditions. The way it works is that there are 3 stages.

Stage 1 is always in effect; simply means that the school is open & all the offices are operating normally.

Stage 2 means that it's up the individual prof to have class or not and that people should use their best judgment as to whether or not it's safe for them to travel to campus.

Stage 3 just got introduced a few years ago (after the 24" of snow in an area that panics when it gets 1/2"). That means that everything is closed & the cops are saying stay home.

They also post it on the opening page of the website, under 'the latest news.'

And they tell you, don't listen to the TV or radio. Check with us. I'm just glad that the poor police don't have to deal with all the idiots calling them. At least, I hope that they don't.

[Shangri-laschild]

Stage 3 just got introduced a few years ago (after the 24" of snow in an area that panics when it gets 1/2"). That means that everything is closed & the cops are saying stay home.

Wow. No matter how bad it is out, our police always are here no matter what though when it's closed we aren't staffed as high.

[TryNotToBeThatOne]

They also started an 'emergency personnel' policy. Those are people who need to be here to deal with the adverse weather (or pandemic, that's been added last year, just in case). So yeah, police, maintenance, hospital & a few other types still have to come into work. Usually, they either don't leave or come in ahead of the storm & stay on campus until things clear up a little.

After one bad hurricane took out power for up to a week in places, they had people camping in the gym and they opened the showers for staff to use.

[d962831]

One night, we happened to have had just over an inch of snow and the roads had some patchy ice.

an inch? wow, it's true, the further to the south you get, the more freaked out people get by even a little snow. I've got family that lives to the farth northern part of Minnesota, and about a week or so back, for the first time in probably seven years they canceled classes because it was so cold that the buses wouldn't start, otherwise they would go to school in two foot deep snow. Here in Iowa, they'll cancel for half a foot of snow, but damn, an inch? That's just the district superintendant whimping out.

[Broomjockey]

an inch? wow, it's true, the further to the south you get, the more freaked out people get by even a little snow. I've got family that lives to the farth northern part of Minnesota, and about a week or so back, for the first time in probably seven years they canceled classes because it was so cold that the buses wouldn't start, otherwise they would go to school in two foot deep snow. Here in Iowa, they'll cancel for half a foot of snow, but damn, an inch? That's just the district superintendant whimping out.

Here, they wouldn't cancel school, they'd just give the kids a pass on missing that day if they took the bus. And they'd keep us inside at recess. I don't think they *ever* cancelled school while I was going, due to weather. There were times my parents kept me home because they didn't feel safe to send me, and such, but it was always open.

[Primer]

an inch? wow, it's true, the further to the south you get, the more freaked out people get by even a little snow. Here in Iowa, they'll cancel for half a foot of snow, but damn, an inch? That's just the district superintendant whimping out.

Except for north Texas, we rarely, if ever, get real snow. What we usually get is freezing rain/sleet and that happens less than once a year. So... ice + no practice + no grading/salting/sanding equipment = panic and closed schools. Heck, most of these southerners freak out when it rains!

[Sonoma]

Primer nailed it. Where I live, we don't get much snow. But, when it snows, it's also usually coupled with a layer of ice underneath. Sometimes we get really lucky and have a second layer of ice on top of the snow. When you couple the ice with some of the hills around here, add inexperience into the mix, it gets dangerous to drive.

It's even worse when inexperienced people think 4WD is the magic cure-all for snow & ice. I drive a 4x4 pickup, and yesterday morning had a car nearly up my tailpipe, she was following so close. She failed to realize that the sparklies on the road was actually a sheet of ice. If you were going straight, you were fine, but once you tried to turn or stop, the ice would get you.

[South Texan]

So... ice + no practice + no grading/salting/sanding equipment = panic and closed schools.

Perfect summary of south Texas and ice or snow. Seriously, it gets scary (and kinda silly) whenever the weather brings anything frozen.

[Seshat]

an inch? That's just the district superintendant whimping out.

If an inch of snow happened here, we'd probably close everything. Only a few people own the proper clothing to stay warm, mostly the skiing people who go to the snowy mountains every year. They're also the only people who know how to drive on snow, and the only people who might own a winterised car, or tyre chains.

Noone has snow ploughs, or snow shovels, or salt to put on ice. Nor can they just go to the shops for shovels and salt - the shops don't have them either.

And we can't borrow supplies from other states - the only places prepared for snow are in the snowy mountains, and they only have enough for themselves.

On the other hand, we're extremely well prepared for bushfires. It's all down to what conditions the populace and infrastructure know how to handle.