Wed no school or 2hr delay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone have any updates on their school's parking lots?

I'm going to guess that the limiting factor after our Sleetzilla storm are the icy snowplow walls that people are having a hard time digging out of. Many people's cars are stuck in their driveways. Otherwise, it seems to me that most roads should be passable by tomorrow morning, if they keep working on side streets today and tonight.

I’ve seen pictures of my elementary school grounds and there is no way we are going on Wednesday. It is untouched as of this morning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, given where things are as of this morning, Wednesday is gonna be closed.

I understand that we don't get snow like this EVERY year but it's also expected to have at least 1-2 snow events like this in most years. Not being able to dig residents out from a moderate snow event like this in 48 hours is a serious vulnerability.

+1. I did a mile and a half walk today and it was possible, but difficult enough that I don't think we should be open tomorrow or honestly probably Thursday.

But I do think events like this happen enough that we need a plan to either plow enough to be open or use contingency days or something, because we can't just extend the school year five days every year.

Yup. This is both a county and a school system failure.

The school system should never have less than 4 snow days built into the school calendar. Full stop.

And the county needs to bolster the resources needed to be able to dig us out of a moderate snow event within 48 hours.

It was not a "moderate event". Here is what Capital Weather Gang posted on Facebook:

We have a deep explainer on what made Sunday's storm so exceptional and how the forecast fared.

Here's the top section:

The winter storm that shut the D.C. area down Sunday was an exceptional one — not simply because of how much precipitation fell, but because of what fell and how cold it was when it fell.

The defining feature of this storm was historic sleet, falling at uncommonly low temperatures. That combination — heavy sleet embedded in deep cold — created a storm that will prove far more disruptive and longer-lasting than a typical snowstorm.

Usually, when sleet falls, it does so in small quantities, often less than an inch, and at temperatures near freezing. But this storm spilled up to 4 inches of icy pellets, an amount unmatched since at least February 1994, and at temperatures mostly in the teens.

Falling atop 4 to 7 inches of snow, the frozen concoction consolidated to a depth of 6 to 9 inches. But this was no ordinary 6 to 9 inches. The water packed inside was comparable to the contents of a 20-inch blizzard. And with nighttime temperatures forecast to plunge into the single digits for days, the mass will remain frozen solid well into the week. There is no telling when this glacial-like offering will finally melt.

The storm itself was born from a remarkable confluence of extremes. As an unusually intense Arctic air mass, sourced from Siberia, surged southeastward, it collided with a jet of moisture streaming in from the Pacific near Hawaii. “To summarize this storm briefly, the Pineapple Express (wet) meets the Siberian Express (cold),” the National Weather Service wrote ahead of the storm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:As of Tuesday morning 60% of county roads have had “one pass.”

They came through my neighborhood yesterday. That one pass left 1-2 inches of compacted snow that is now solid ice. I can’t imagine a bus going up our hilly roads in these conditions.

Agreed. The problem is that ice will not be going away anytime soon, so I don't know when on earth it will be feasible to reopen.

The ice doesn't need to melt for schools to open. What do you think northern states do?

But their bus drivers have been trained to drive in icy conditions and that doesn't happen here.

Physics is our friend. Buses are heavy. They do fine.

The colder temperatures have helped. We haven't gotten into a melt-refreeze pattern. The roads and sidewalks are just going to get better at this point.

Except they don’t always do fine. I can think of three incidents where our school buses slid off the road with children on board. The last one just this past December.

And what was the outcome of the sliding? No injuries right? Sliding is part of life if you live in an area with snow and ice. If you want your kid off the roads in any snow and ice, you should be advocating for MCPS to include 8 snow days in the calendar each year.

[Anonymous]

I just saw the parking lot of my elementary school and it's completely covered in snow. Building service was able to clear sidewalks but the neighborhood sidewalks are not clear. I don't know how our kids will walk on them to school to get in tomorrow. We're predominantly walkers from surrounding townhouses and apartments.

[Anonymous]

Burning Tree ES's parking lot/circle was completely covered in the snow/ice that is extremely heavy.

I don't think schools or child care will open this week.

[Anonymous]

Banneker MS is plowed.
However, the sidewalks that students walk to get there on Old Columbia pike are impassable. One side is houses, the other is a library/rec center owned by the county.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Won't the snow and ice all cleaned and treated by the end of Tuesday since snow has stopped already? Why prediction of closing for a week....

It depends if we get more snow and it turns into ice. We have had multiple plows and we’ve dug out several times and right now all of it looks like no one has touched it. It’s bad.

Where are you located? We are in Wheaton. We are in an HOA and the contractors came once right after the sleet/freezing rain stopped. Sidewalks and street are completely clear.

I am in Kensington. Streets are not plowed and we are responsible for our own sidewalks. We shoveled 4 times yesterday but still have a coating of icy snow. I predict neighborhood sidewalks are going to be the big problem.

These snow days are a great opportunity for everyone to go out and practice walking on slippery surfaces.

I spent a few winters in an area where they were very good about plowing the main roads but not so much the side streets, and sidewalk clearing was widely variable. We didn't even get a ton of snow but it was COLD so when we did get it it would hang around for weeks. There would be stretches of sidewalks that were downright trecherous but you just had to adapt and carry on. Obviously everyone who can should be out there clearing or hiring someone to do so but things are gonna be slippery for a while.

What is your address so I know where to send the bill for my kid’s broken wrist from all of this “practice” they should be doing

lol. This area never ceases to amaze me.

If you want your kid to never go out when there’s snow and ice, feel free to petition McPS to start school in the beginning of August and we can have the entire month of January off.

HS teacher here. I wish we would start school earlier in August. Way better for AP classes. This week is a disaster for AP classes

Agreed. This current calendar is not responsible. How is it possible that each year MCPS including only one snow day? At this rate, we’ll have used 5 days before January is out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, given where things are as of this morning, Wednesday is gonna be closed.

I understand that we don't get snow like this EVERY year but it's also expected to have at least 1-2 snow events like this in most years. Not being able to dig residents out from a moderate snow event like this in 48 hours is a serious vulnerability.

The issue is less the amount of snow and more the freezing rain that fell on top of it and iced everything over.

[Anonymous]

Today is the warmest day of the week. Cars still getting stuck everywhere. We are not having school for a while

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As of Tuesday morning 60% of county roads have had “one pass.”

They came through my neighborhood yesterday. That one pass left 1-2 inches of compacted snow that is now solid ice. I can’t imagine a bus going up our hilly roads in these conditions.

Agreed. The problem is that ice will not be going away anytime soon, so I don't know when on earth it will be feasible to reopen.

The ice doesn't need to melt for schools to open. What do you think northern states do?

But their bus drivers have been trained to drive in icy conditions and that doesn't happen here.

Physics is our friend. Buses are heavy. They do fine.

The colder temperatures have helped. We haven't gotten into a melt-refreeze pattern. The roads and sidewalks are just going to get better at this point.

Except they don’t always do fine. I can think of three incidents where our school buses slid off the road with children on board. The last one just this past December.

And what was the outcome of the sliding? No injuries right? Sliding is part of life if you live in an area with snow and ice. If you want your kid off the roads in any snow and ice, you should be advocating for MCPS to include 8 snow days in the calendar each year.

Mcps already have one fatal bus accident this year and that was under good weather conditions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As of Tuesday morning 60% of county roads have had “one pass.”

They came through my neighborhood yesterday. That one pass left 1-2 inches of compacted snow that is now solid ice. I can’t imagine a bus going up our hilly roads in these conditions.

Agreed. The problem is that ice will not be going away anytime soon, so I don't know when on earth it will be feasible to reopen.

The ice doesn't need to melt for schools to open. What do you think northern states do?

But their bus drivers have been trained to drive in icy conditions and that doesn't happen here.

Physics is our friend. Buses are heavy. They do fine.

The colder temperatures have helped. We haven't gotten into a melt-refreeze pattern. The roads and sidewalks are just going to get better at this point.

Except they don’t always do fine. I can think of three incidents where our school buses slid off the road with children on board. The last one just this past December.

And what was the outcome of the sliding? No injuries right? Sliding is part of life if you live in an area with snow and ice. If you want your kid off the roads in any snow and ice, you should be advocating for MCPS to include 8 snow days in the calendar each year.

Mcps already have one fatal bus accident this year and that was under good weather conditions

That accident would not have occurred under these conditions. Maybe we should only have school when it is like this.

[Anonymous]

What percentage of school parking lots are plowed? The ones near me are not.

[Anonymous]

People need to suck it up and get to school. Wear boots. Figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People need to suck it up and get to school. Wear boots. Figure it out.

Where shall the teachers and staff park?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People need to suck it up and get to school. Wear boots. Figure it out.

Where shall the teachers and staff park?

That's the figure it out part.