Nothing is changing between now and 5pm. The midday storms and persistent cloud cover robbed the atmosphere of the energy needed for severe weather this afternoon. Ironically, many of the short-term weather models showed this possibility yesterday. |
| That was nothing. I can’t believe it closed for this |
Which is why I posted yesterday that we get tornadoes and severe weather in the spring and summer. And then all of you yelled at me and said the sky was falling and this was different. This was never predicted to be like the derecho. |
| You slow folks haven't realized the 60-75 mph straight line winds still have arrived yet. They closed early to avoid the issues of kids being dismissed right when it arrives. |
Kids would be home now. You could have canceled after school activities in an abundance of caution and done more than enough. |
Not all kids and I'm not sure if you realized there was an actual tornado warning in Loudoun at 11 am. Those were always going to be randomly placed and not everyone impacted, but you'd be mad as hell if it touched down at your kid's school. |
Mother of a LCPS middle schooler here. My child spent a substantial period of their day on the floor with their head down by the interior locker bays as the school got a tornado alert. I’m not aware of any academic instruction that took place during this time LOL. So yes, safe to say there was “issues”. |
But at the time (ie yesterday), when a decision had to be made, all the forecast models showed severe weather/tornados more probable moreso than a typical spring thunderstorm. Hindsight is 20/20 and all. |
Yes there was! Students lost 40 minutes of class time, safe in the hallways. Our students lost 3 hours. My kid is safer if a tornado touches down at her school than at our home, or on her bus. |
NP yes there was a tornado drill, but that probably means they don't have to have an additional one later. So I don't think it was a waste. Having the entire day off is a waste. |
How many children were injured? How much damage was done to the school? Your kid lost 40 minutes and got home fine. Congratulations of living in a sane district. |
| Well that was a letdown. A huge waste of the day and the weather has been just fine. |
Not questioning the decision, but the models were not aligned. Two of the short-range models (HRRR and 3k NAM) were showing an outcome close to what actually happened today. They were just discounted because (a) other (and generally better) models were showing much more significant outcomes and (b) the overall atmospheric setup was very conducive to severe weather. |
Those winds (more likely 30-50 mph) are coming with, or just ahead of, the cold front, which isn't coming through until after sunset tonight. |
So, I receive Fairfax Alerts and there are multiple roads closed across the county for downed trees and flooding. Furthermore, you can’t really just wait until the conditions are absolutely right to make the call — especially when dealing with tornados. Seven children were killed during the Moore Oklahoma) tornado that hit a school. Weather is ridiculously difficult to predict — even the federal government closed early, and they made the call at 11:00 a.m. |