'Snow' Days SUCK!

[Cat]

Our local news actually showed someone in the midwest (we aren't as bad out here in the Pacific Northwest right now) take a cup of HOT water, and throw the contents into the air - it turned to a snowy/icy/powdery substance, no longer liquid, before it hit the ground.

To all you guys out there in that kinda cold, I offer cyber hot chocolate and wish I could do more.

Merriweather

That's crazy...only other video I have seen of something like that was on taken on top of Mt Washington.

[It shouldn't]

I

had to buy some on-the-go sized Lock DeIcer because my ignition was frozen, I couldn't get into my apartment without pretty much having to police-style kick the door in, and none of my car doors will open (unlocked!). These handy little things are great. But they don't last long....just a half hour after I went tanning and had de-iced my door lock, it was refrozen

*** Public service anouncement from your friendly locksmith******

All lock deicer is mostly rubbing alcohol. You get the same effect by squirting rubbing alcohol in your lock at 1/4 of the price. Problem is that the alcohol dries out the water AND the lubricant in the lock. So in order to prevent it from refreezing, once you get the lock thawed, follow up with some good lubricant. And NOT WD40. WD40 actually freezes in lower temps, too. Try and find something that has teflon or silicone in it. Please no graphite in the modern car locks either, that stuff just cloggs more than what its worth and leaves your keys a lovley shade of black.

[tollbaby]

Wait.... your skin burns at -11F? I'm sorry... pardon me while I die laughing I'm being obnoxious... when the kids and I left the house this morning it was -40C - which is also -40F - BEFORE the wind-chill was factored in... snow day? Not in my lifetime thus far.... Our schools have NEVER been closed due to snow or cold - the most they'll do is have indoor recess on ridiculously cold days.

As for the parents in the OP.... cops may not want to come pick up some abandoned kids, but social services sure as hell will! Especially if they're not properly dressed for inclement weather and are therefore trapped in their current location.

[Pagan]

I was thinking along the lines of child endangerment or child abandonment.... types of things, at least for some of them.

I don't know if this would be considered abandonment. How many times did we all got to the mall with our friends when we were that age? And our parents just dropped us at the mall and then picked us up later? That still happens. Mid-teen kids at the mall without parents....that's not abandonment.

[Primer]

I am under the impression that hot water freezes faster.

Common, but very mistaken impression. In order to freeze, the temperature has to be brought down to 32F or 0C. If you start at a high temp, it just takes that much longer to be brought down through the regular, lower, temp. Hot water will sometimes freeze more clearly, but it will certainly not freeze faster.

[ta2ooed1]

Common, but very mistaken impression. In order to freeze, the temperature has to be brought down to 32F or 0C. If you start at a high temp, it just takes that much longer to be brought down through the regular, lower, temp. Hot water will sometimes freeze more clearly, but it will certainly not freeze faster.

Actually i was led to believe hot water will freeze faster due to the hot water evaporating quite a bit before it cools down therefore there is less water to freeze. I remember seeing that on Mr Wizard or some such program.

[Chromatix]

The rate of cooling of hot water is indeed faster, but in nearly all cases that is more than offset by the greater amount of heat to remove.

It *has* been shown that hotter water *can* reach a particular low temperature faster than some cooler water, but it needs to be under rather controlled conditions and is most certainly *not* universal.

Back on topic, my personal view is that leaving a child to fend for themselves for the day (not of their own volition), in completely inappropriate clothing for the season, is tantamount to criminal neglect. It doesn't particularly matter if the kids are behaving themselves, they simply shouldn't be left in that situation. It's pretty clear that the "parents" - I use the word advisedly - are simply unwilling to compromise their plans for the day just because the school was unexpectedly shut down due to weather.

As for the question of whether schools should be shut in bad weather: I think so, if the weather is very unusual for the area, or if physically getting there has become unreasonably difficult or dangerous. Frostbite is a valid danger if the locals aren't used to wearing the right clothes to avoid it - here in Finland, they are used to it, but in Britain for example, they aren't.

[Becks]

I thank those who responded to my post and allowing me to learn something new today.