14,000 Iowans want the governor to pardon school snow days. She can't, but here's who can.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

5 hours ago, spookyturtle said:

Wow. Around here they wouldn’t be able to get the streets, sidewalks and schools cleared that fast in a big storm. Then again, I think the people that live in Alaska are a very tough bunch. They deal with a harsh environment. 

It’s certainly a different place.  Rugged environment, rugged people.  In the interior, the first snowfall or two may blow away.  But by late October, it’s there to stay.  Turns to ice on the roads fairly quickly.  And stays ice thru about March or April.  Salt won’t work, only gravel.

 

I was amazed to see people driving 55-70 mph on roads covered with ice.  But they did.  And survival kits with blankets were a must in every vehicle.  Getting stuck or stranded on a road was a life or death situation very quickly.

[TBoneTX 45,570]

Snow is just "fat water," but what a nuisance, and how avoidable (by living places where it ain't).

 

I remember many years ago in N. Carolina:  whenever the weather people mentioned a 0.000000001% chance of a possible, alleged, random, nonaccumulating snowflake, the natives would barnstorm the stores, clear the shelves of milk and bread and Spam, and huddle in their homes waiting for the world to end.

[Unidentified 2,930]

14 hours ago, Póg mo said:

Great idea, what possibly could go wrong? Apart from death or losing limbs to frost bite, that is.

There's no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing. Alaskan people seem fine. I grew up in Sweden and the only time we ever closed school was when a water pipe froze and we couldn't use the bathrooms. I always walked to school. 

 

In what scenario would "death, losing limbs to frostbite" occur from being in school on a snowy day?

[spookyturtle 9,466]

9 hours ago, ALFKAD said:

It’s certainly a different place.  Rugged environment, rugged people.  In the interior, the first snowfall or two may blow away.  But by late October, it’s there to stay.  Turns to ice on the roads fairly quickly.  And stays ice thru about March or April.  Salt won’t work, only gravel.

 

I was amazed to see people driving 55-70 mph on roads covered with ice.  But they did.  And survival kits with blankets were a must in every vehicle.  Getting stuck or stranded on a road was a life or death situation very quickly.

When I was a kid. We waited outside for the bus or those who lived within a certain distance walked to school. School would be cancelled at times due to snow simply because the roads or schools hadn’t been cleared in time. And this was dependent on the time and amount of snowfall. 

 

Today, parents sit in their SUV’s with the kids while waiting for the bus to arrive, no matter the weather, sunny, cloudy, etc. Or they  give the kids a ride to school and pick them up. Far different from when I was a child. Each generation is becoming softer. 

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

24 minutes ago, spookyturtle said:

When I was a kid. We waited outside for the bus or those who lived within a certain distance walked to school. School would be cancelled at times due to snow simply because the roads or schools hadn’t been cleared in time. And this was dependent on the time and amount of snowfall. 

 

Today, parents sit in their SUV’s with the kids while waiting for the bus to arrive, no matter the weather, sunny, cloudy, etc. Or they  give the kids a ride to school and pick them up. Far different from when I was a child. Each generation is becoming softer. 

You need to update your city dude!

[spookyturtle 9,466]

6 minutes ago, Randyandyuni said:

You need to update your city dude!

Done. I forgot all about it. 

[Steeleballz 7,550]

18 hours ago, ALFKAD said:

And yet, kids in Alaska go to school every day with snow on the ground, and walk to school or wait on buses  in temps as low as -35° to -50°.  

 

       In Colorado, it can go from 50F and sunny one day to -5F and 12" of snow the next. We had 6" of snow last night and several roads were closed, (even part of I-70) because so many vehicles are stuck that the plows can't even get past to clear the snow. So everything is delayed while emergency services are tied up trying to deal with this. Myself, I had the bad luck of getting stuck behind a car with Texas plates on the way home driving ~10 miles an hour. Saw people out walking in light coats, probably abandoned their vehicles and walking home. We had people who were over 2 hours late for work when I was leaving. Some were stuck in the road closures and had no idea when they would even arrive. 

 

     In Alberta when I was growing up, we rarely ever closed schools for weather. When it's that cold and snowy from September to June,  you can't really close school for it. Unless it's severe, you get there if you can. If you can't you call and say you aren't coming in. However we were also set up with the infrastructure to navigate in these conditions.  Heated school buses, everyone had snow tires, and millions of dollars budgeted for snow removal. Every street you would have neighbors with plow attachments and winches would were out making a buck clearing roads or helping people who were stuck. If a state doesn't get that much snow, it's more cost effective to try to keep people at home in that kind of weather. 

[Neonred 3,576]

Here we have hurricane days.  There are a few days set aside in the fall semester just in case.  If there is no hurricane the kids get a few extra days for Christmas break.

 

I remember when my daughter, that grew up in SW Florida and went to FSU, started dental school in Louisville KY.  That first winter was especially icy and snowy.  She called me and told me how bad the weather had been, and she was amazed that school had been cancelled for a couple of days.  She said " Dad, they cancelled school.  They called it, uh, uh, snow days!  Can you believe it?"

[Steeleballz 7,550]

2 hours ago, Unidentified said:

There's no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing. Alaskan people seem fine. I grew up in Sweden and the only time we ever closed school was when a water pipe froze and we couldn't use the bathrooms. I always walked to school. 

 

In what scenario would "death, losing limbs to frostbite" occur from being in school on a snowy day?

 

  We have had deaths here where people were found frozen in their vehicles after snow has cleared. It's one of the reasons they have moved towards doing what they can to minimize the number of people driving in those conditions. We get situations like last night where they predict a couple of inches of snow and a quick moving cold front. Then it get's hung up and we get 10 inches of snow in an hour and freezing temperatures.

 

   It's just the nature of our local climate. I always keep a winter coat and supplies in my vehicle. I didn't always. I have had days when I went to work in light jacket and came out 8 hours later to -10F weather. As I said, when it's predictably -20 and snowy all winter, people are prepared for that it's easy to continue as normal with that type of weather. When I lived in Victoria BC, 1 inch of snow paralyzed the city for 3 days. They only had one snow plow and that broke down the second day form over use. Meantime, I was out driving around for fun and I was the only person on the road for miles. 

[Póg mo 1,749]

2 hours ago, Unidentified said:

There's no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing. Alaskan people seem fine. I grew up in Sweden and the only time we ever closed school was when a water pipe froze and we couldn't use the bathrooms. I always walked to school. 

 

In what scenario would "death, losing limbs to frostbite" occur from being in school on a snowy day?

Alaskans expect bad weather. It is part and parcel of living in Alaska. Here in Minnesota schools will often open on days when other parts of the country would have closed them in much less harsh conditions, but Minnesotan schools do close when travel to and from school is dangerous. Imagine the law suits that would arise if schools decided to stay open, and something terrible happens to some of the children because of the cold? Why risk lives unnecessarily, especially when there zero visibility. 

[Steeleballz 7,550]

17 minutes ago, Neonred said:

Here we have hurricane days.  There are a few days set aside in the fall semester just in case.  If there is no hurricane the kids get a few extra days for Christmas break.

 

I remember when my daughter, that grew up in SW Florida and went to FSU, started dental school in Louisville KY.  That first winter was especially icy and snowy.  She called me and told me how bad the weather had been, and she was amazed that school had been cancelled for a couple of days.  She said " Dad, they cancelled school.  They called it, uh, uh, snow days!  Can you believe it?"

 

   As much as snow driving doesn't bother me, I often have to pull over when the rain get's too heavy when we are in Florida. At the same time all the local drivers seem to continue on unabated at highway speed. I guess it's just what you are used to. I'm not used to having a waterfall running down my front windshield but I can somehow see through a tiny clear space on a window covered with frost and ice..

[Neonred 3,576]

1 hour ago, Steeleballz said:

 

   As much as snow driving doesn't bother me, I often have to pull over when the rain get's too heavy when we are in Florida. At the same time all the local drivers seem to continue on unabated at highway speed. I guess it's just what you are used to. I'm not used to having a waterfall running down my front windshield but I can somehow see through a tiny clear space on a window covered with frost and ice..

Rain-X

[TBoneTX 45,570]

Large swath of Iowa to get 6" to 9" of snow tonight.