Anonymous wrote:That was nothing. I can’t believe it closed for this

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.

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

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Anonymous wrote:That was nothing. I can’t believe it closed for this

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.

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.

Well that was a letdown. A huge waste of the day and the weather has been just fine.

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Anonymous wrote:I just saw Doug Kammerer's weather report (local weather reporter) and he says 3 lines of storms around 11, 1, 7. 1 is the time to watch for tornadoes. Right during the 3 hour early release.
It was a hard call for FCPS, but looks like kids would be safer at school til the normal release time.

Yes kids would be safer in schools than on busses than in cars/walking outdoors.

But this isn’t about students safety, it’s about giving teachers more PTO.

Meanwhile, in the real world, OPM has told federal workers to leave by 2 p.m. today. Almost every district in the DMV and Baltimore area has an early release. There is also an active tornado watch and severe thunderstorm warning for the area. But yes, FCPS having an early release today is clearly about giving teachers some extra time off.

ABSOLUTELY NO ONE has said. We have complained about the cumulative effect of all the other days off. So stop the gaslighting

Not true. I am in fact, the poster who said it was about giving teachers time to get home. Because that is what I was told and I still believe it is true. Absolutely none of this was about keeping students safe— LCPS stayed open with no issues even with the tornado warning. It can be done!

Way too early to say that LCPS has had no issues.

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”.

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.

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Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

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Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

Anonymous wrote:That was nothing. I can’t believe it closed for this

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.

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Anonymous wrote:I just saw Doug Kammerer's weather report (local weather reporter) and he says 3 lines of storms around 11, 1, 7. 1 is the time to watch for tornadoes. Right during the 3 hour early release.
It was a hard call for FCPS, but looks like kids would be safer at school til the normal release time.

Yes kids would be safer in schools than on busses than in cars/walking outdoors.

But this isn’t about students safety, it’s about giving teachers more PTO.

Meanwhile, in the real world, OPM has told federal workers to leave by 2 p.m. today. Almost every district in the DMV and Baltimore area has an early release. There is also an active tornado watch and severe thunderstorm warning for the area. But yes, FCPS having an early release today is clearly about giving teachers some extra time off.

ABSOLUTELY NO ONE has said. We have complained about the cumulative effect of all the other days off. So stop the gaslighting

Not true. I am in fact, the poster who said it was about giving teachers time to get home. Because that is what I was told and I still believe it is true. Absolutely none of this was about keeping students safe— LCPS stayed open with no issues even with the tornado warning. It can be done!

Way too early to say that LCPS has had no issues.

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”.

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Anonymous wrote: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.

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

Anonymous wrote: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.

That was nothing. I can’t believe it closed for this

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Anonymous wrote:I just saw Doug Kammerer's weather report (local weather reporter) and he says 3 lines of storms around 11, 1, 7. 1 is the time to watch for tornadoes. Right during the 3 hour early release.
It was a hard call for FCPS, but looks like kids would be safer at school til the normal release time.

Yes kids would be safer in schools than on busses than in cars/walking outdoors.

But this isn’t about students safety, it’s about giving teachers more PTO.

Meanwhile, in the real world, OPM has told federal workers to leave by 2 p.m. today. Almost every district in the DMV and Baltimore area has an early release. There is also an active tornado watch and severe thunderstorm warning for the area. But yes, FCPS having an early release today is clearly about giving teachers some extra time off.

ABSOLUTELY NO ONE has said. We have complained about the cumulative effect of all the other days off. So stop the gaslighting

Before using your screaming caps, please read the PP immediately above. That person said, "But this isn't about students safety, it's about giving teachers more PTO." So yes, someone has directly stated this.

I am the poster who said it’s about teachers getting PTO to go home. My source was credible and nothing that has been said or done since refutes it. It should embarrass us.

You’re just embarrassing yourself. STFU.

Whats embarrassing is it’s now normal dismissal time and FCPS just screwed students out of three hours of school, and parents out of a day of work, for about 20 minutes of heavy rain. Loudon, which stayed open despite actual tornado warnings, was fine.

Way to go.

Please wait until after 5PM when the late start elementary students would be getting off the bus before you start bragging.

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.