How much snow does it take to close down your local school?

[ironglow]

  Perhaps this chart will help..

[Dee]

In our area its not always the number of inches, but the drift. I've seen drifts better than 6 feet.

[ironglow]

In our area its not always the number of inches, but the drift. I've seen drifts better than 6 feet.

  Yes, it is the wind that does that job. I had an Army buddy, who lived in Robert Lee TX, up areound san Angelo.  He claimed the winds blew fierce
  up in the pan handle...with "nothing but a barb wire fence to slow them down... 

   I still don't look forward to a repeat of the sudden, unpredicted storm of 1977, although we have had some since, that have approached it..
   
   https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-york/deadly-storm-ny/

[guzzijohn]

For once I agree with Dee. Growing up in the mid-west a three inch storm with high winds could block roads or have zero visibility . Eight inches and no wind is just inconvenient.
GuzziJohn

[Lloyd Smale]

amount of snow means little here. its visabilty. when it storms here along the shore of lake superior whiteouts can make it tough to see 5 feet past your hood and it cloess down roads for 2 days or more. normal  blizard slows down traffic to 45-50 mph many days we have 2 feet of snow without high winds and schools stay open. its pretty much when the roads close schools close, on the stretch between my hose and town they have 5 foot sign posts with green reflectors on one side and red on the other so if you drift across into the other lane you see red reflectors on you left side so you can ease back to the right till you see green on your right. hopefully no one is coming the other way. a couple times ive had to bail into the ditch on the left side to avoid cars coming the other way. always said if nascar ran one race on snow and ice covered roads my late mother would wipe jimmy johnsons ass. roads are snow and ice covered 3 months out of the year for the most part and it doesnt even slow the local traffic down, the dangerous drivers are the old ladies and people from out of the area driving 45 and forcing eveyone else to pass them. had a service buddy from Louisiana come up for a week a couple winters back and he said he aged 5 years riding with me or my wife driving

[ironglow]

  Of course, that seems to assume that the deep snow freas don't have high winds.  Don't forget..chicago is called the "windy city", even though statistically, Buffalo is even windier.

  Just as the open plains allow winds to generate...so the open Great Lakes allow winds to build, especially those places east of the Great Lakes.

  It is also what allows vapors coming off the lakes form int voluminous snow storms, and dump to the east of the lakes.

  Here is a very interesting, 6 minute video that  captures the storm and the spirit of the storm life during tghe blizzard of '77.  We were for the most part, closed down for a week to week and a half..depending upon individusl situations.

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL7eXnIqUV4

   Skim through the timeline on the bottom of the video..to catch any highlights..

[gene_225]

Not much here, but when we were in Kobuk Alaska you walked on top of the snow even when it was several feet deep. The snow machines still ran.

[Lloyd Smale]

i spent a year bouncing between a hospital in chicago and the one at great lakes and saw where less then 4 inches of snow shut that city down and a storm that dropped only 8 inches delayed 2 surgerys i had scheduled for 6 days. people didnt have a clue how to drive in it and the city was poorly prepared to deal with it. dont know if its improved since but it was laughable there. 6 inches of snow here is just another winter day. im sure its a bit better because of the popularity of 4x4 sport utilities , back then it was rear wheel drive cars with bias ply tires and i doubt many even bothered with snow tires that far south back then. still chuckle thinking back to when my dad worked civil service at the afb and after the first snow a black airman from Miss asked him where he got those tractor tires for his pickup.

  Of course, that seems to assume that the deep snow freas don't have high winds.  Don't forget..chicago is called the "windy city", even though statistically, Buffalo is even windier.

  Just as the open plains allow winds to generate...so the open Great Lakes allow winds to build, especially those places east of the Great Lakes.

  It is also what allows vapors coming off the lakes form int voluminous snow storms, and dump to the east of the lakes.

  Here is a very interesting, 6 minute video that  captures the storm and the spirit of the storm life during tghe blizzard of '77.  We were for the most part, closed down for a week to week and a half..depending upon individusl situations.

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL7eXnIqUV4

   Skim through the timeline on the bottom of the video..to catch any highlights..

[ironglow]

  As I have said before, I cannot fault folks who normally does not experience snow, to be very apprehensive about driving when any snow shows up.

  I suspect that those who live in desert areas could teach we who live in snow areas, much about the dangers a greenhorn faces in an arid climate,
  driving and otherwise..

[Mule 11]

My Dad told me he would mound snow in front of the only entrance to the school and pour water on it to form a ice barrier to keep from going to school...

[DDZ]

Lol, the map for my area shows 6 to 12 inches to close school. Now if there is 1 or two inches school is delayed 2 hours, and 4 inches usually mean schools close. I remember 8 to 12 inch snows with no delay, and being picked up by a bus with chains on it. Schools close now if its even deemed to cold. Anymore a 2 inch snow is called a storm.

[Graybeard]

We don't do snow here in the deep south. When it happens which it does rarely we just take a little while off from normal and wait until it's gone which it usually is next day.

[Lloyd Smale]

ya i lived in little creek va for 3 years and can count on one hand how many times it snowed and dont recall it ever being enough to effect the roads and your well south of there. but you have to put up with that oppressive heat and humidity and i handle snow and cold better then i do that its what made me run home as fast as i could when my discharge papers came. i remember report there. left here on leave and it was a very hot to me low 80s and got off the plane in norfolk to 95 and so humid there was a haze in the air. never saw heat like that and struggled to breath. you get used to it but being from the north it would have taken alot more years then i spent there to think its normal. but then we would go to south America for three weeks and come back to va for two and 90s and humid seemed comfortable. I never saw heat like they have anywhere. i think you could survive without water because there was enough in the air. nothing like a 100 plus in a downpour. theres adavantages and disadvantages to anywhere. i think it comes down to where you grew up as to what your comfortable in

[Graybeard]

It's 95 here now as I type this. Nope I ain't going out in that heat. I'm in here in the AC staying cool. Big storms are around but none are likely to move over me based on where they are and direction they are moving. At 1:33 a little over 30 minutes ago, whoever it is that does such called to say severe thunderstorms were in my area.

There is one that has just entered Bama from MS that is at least 10-12 counties large. I doubt it will hold together long enough to get here but it is moving this direction tho still 250 miles away.

Every day this coming week I think is to be such heat.

When I was younger and in better health the heat and humidity down here didn't bother me so much. Now with COPD I can't breathe if I go out in it.