Closed on Friday or early closing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:was that the storm that people were trapped in their cars downtown and on 395?

You’re probably thinking of Snowpocalypse or Snowmageddon. This one was a fairly minor event, but the roads weren’t treated properly resulting in a hazardous morning commute.

[Anonymous]

Where is Ryan McEleven when you need him?

His entire purpose of being on the school board is early snow day announcements and celebrity appearances at prom.

[Anonymous]

Capital Weather Gang has FCPS a 35% of closing and a 60% chance of a delay.

[Anonymous]

For real. It's supposed to be about an inch. You want schools closed over 1 inch of snow? Pathetic.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:was that the storm that people were trapped in their cars downtown and on 395?

There was the one where 495 shut down and I forget which senator got stuck in the mess. That was just a couple years ago, but I think schools were closed that day.

[Anonymous]

Yeah it was Tim Kaine who was trying to get from Richmond to DC but I think you're right that schools were already closed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:was that the storm that people were trapped in their cars downtown and on 395?

There was the one where 495 shut down and I forget which senator got stuck in the mess. That was just a couple years ago, but I think schools were closed that day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For real. It's supposed to be about an inch. You want schools closed over 1 inch of snow? Pathetic.

The issue isn't an inch of snow. It's the timing of the snow (during morning bus routes) and that it will be cold enough for everything to accumulate (and become icy) on untreated roads. I'm a New Englander and almost never had school cancelled for snow as a kid, but this is the one scenario where a cancellation would have been possible.

That said, a delay seems like the more likely outcome . . . even if, as someone else wrote, the timing means that a delay might not actually accomplish much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For real. It's supposed to be about an inch. You want schools closed over 1 inch of snow? Pathetic.

The issue isn't an inch of snow. It's the timing of the snow (during morning bus routes) and that it will be cold enough for everything to accumulate (and become icy) on untreated roads. I'm a New Englander and almost never had school cancelled for snow as a kid, but this is the one scenario where a cancellation would have been possible.

That said, a delay seems like the more likely outcome . . . even if, as someone else wrote, the timing means that a delay might not actually accomplish much.

The delay at least used to be called in order to give them time to close or not depending on how the storm shaped up.

With the end of the assumption (that went on FAR too long, to be fair) that every family has a stay-at-home parent or flexible parent at least, they don't do it that way as much anymore. And that's pretty understandable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ready to sent this email.

I am writing because the decision to close schools over barely any snow was extremely frustrating and, frankly, unreasonable. Many of us have attended school in real snowfall before with no issues, so shutting everything down for a trace of snow feels like an overreaction.

This kind of decision disrupts families, throws off schedules, and makes it hard for students to stay on track. I’m asking that future closures be based on actual hazardous conditions, not minimal flurries, and that communication is clearer and more thoughtful.

Please do better going forward. Students and families deserve decisions that make sense.

Welcome to northern Virginia.

I assume, based on your letter, that you have never experienced snowfall in this area?

It is not quite as bad as Texas, where cars start sliding off the road at the first sign of frost. At least Texas drivers know their limitations and mostly stay home. That is why Garza cancelled for frosty sidewalks in Herndon. She knew her limitations.

This area has a significant number of imports from warm climates who don't know how to drive on snow so they drive on idle, plus an even larger number of jerks who think that you can go as fast as you can on snow, not realizing that just because you can drive on snow doesn't mean you can stop on snow.

When it snows, these 2 drivers always seem to converge on the Beltway, 395 and I95 at exactly the same time, right as trucks are trying to treat the roads.

They turn those 3 highways into a parking lot within an hour of the first snowflake. Fast drivers crash info those going too slow, or slide across lanes when they slam on their breaks
Cars run out of gas, and now we have the added issue of electric car batteries dying.

The first real snowfall always goes like this in DC. It is why the term Snomaggedon was coined.

Once you live hear for 1-2 snow storms, you will quickly learn that letters like you wrote just get scoffed at and tossed.

The first snowfall here does not mean a run on toilet paper and wine.

It means hours of people sitting in their cars on the highways waiting for roadside assistance.

Snowmageddon was coined when the DC/Baltimore are had two 20+ inch blizzards within about 10 days.

[Anonymous]

Commutemagedon was the one where freezing rain and ice started falling at about 3 pm. FCPS had closed for the day but surrounding counties did early releases instead. People were stuck in traffic for many hours. Major roadways were still parking lots 6-7 hours later.

[Anonymous]

I'm betting on a delay announced tonight at minimum, although Reid seems much less liberal with her criteria for calling a delay or closure.

[Anonymous]

It is going to be ~26 degrees with light now falling at 9am. No way they delay into that for the middle schoolers. It’ll be closed.

[Anonymous]

What the "I grew up in Upstate NY/Michigan/Boston" crowd always fails to remember is that Virginia simply doesn't have the equipment to deal with snow. They don't have as many plows, as many trucks to pretreat roads, or as many buses that can run in extreme temperatures. Virginia doesn't have enough snow events to warrant having all that equipment on hand. Other than 2009-10 winter when we had multiple storms each over a foot of snow, it just doesn't happen that often. And FCPS closes for cold when buses simply won't start because it's so cold. We had a couple of Polar Vortex years that made bussing kids to school impossible a few times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For real. It's supposed to be about an inch. You want schools closed over 1 inch of snow? Pathetic.

The issue isn't an inch of snow. It's the timing of the snow (during morning bus routes) and that it will be cold enough for everything to accumulate (and become icy) on untreated roads. I'm a New Englander and almost never had school cancelled for snow as a kid, but this is the one scenario where a cancellation would have been possible.

That said, a delay seems like the more likely outcome . . . even if, as someone else wrote, the timing means that a delay might not actually accomplish much.

The issue isn't the inch of snow or the timing of the snow.

The issue is that the entire DC area has some of the worst drivers in the entire country.