TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – With winter finally arriving in Michigan, it has brought not just a lot of snow to many areas of the state but also frigid temperatures. Dangerously cold wind chills and lake-effect snow are predicted to hang around the state for a little while, following a weekend of snowfall that left many in the state digging out from a foot or more of the white stuff.
How cold did it get yesterday?
Wind Chill Advisories and warnings were issued on Monday in many parts of the state with wind chill temperatures getting down to -25 degrees in southeast Michigan. Some of those cold wind chill temperatures are still holding on, forcing Michiganders to venture out into single digit weather throughout the week.
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The National Weather Service said in a Monday statement, “Dangerously cold wind chill readings of 5 to 15 below zero are expected through Tuesday morning,” and readings of 10 to 20 below zero were also expected Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
The “feels like” temperature is bone chilling.
With the combination of cold temperatures and wind, we are seeing frigid “feels like” temperatures being reported in the news. That’s a phrase that meteorologists use to combine the actual temperature with the wind to tell us how cold the weather actually feels to most people.
Technically speaking, the National Weather Service defines wild chill as “a term used to describe what the air temperature feels like to the human skin due to the combination of cold temperatures and winds blowing on exposed skin. In simple terms, the colder the air temperature and the higher the wind speeds the colder it will feel on your skin if you’re outside. So even if it remains the same temperature, but the wind speed increases it will actually feel colder to your skin.”
How cold does it have to be to shut down school for the day?
With temperatures as cold as they are, at what point do the school districts in Michigan decide to cancel school because it’s too dangerous for the students?
There is no statewide mandate for this, surprisingly enough. Each school system can make their own decisions, but generally speaking in Michigan, when the temperature and/or wind chill gets around -20 degrees or lower, school is generally called off. Those decisions are made with safety concerns and recommendations from health authorities in mind.
School children risk frostbite and hypothermia during adverse weather conditions.
The website “snow day calculator” reminds everyone that children are more susceptible to the cold than adults and risk suffering from frostbite and hypothermia. They say, “During severe cold spells, exposed skin can freeze within minutes. As safety must always take precedence, school administrators closely monitor weather reports before making their decisions.”
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They add, “Communication is key when the weather affects school schedules. Michigan schools use various channels, including automated phone calls, emails, websites, social media, and local news outlets, to relay closure information to ensure that parents and staff receive timely updates.”
Too many “snow” and bad weather days can create problems.
School closings can also bring problems to the schools if the cold or snowy conditions last for a while.
Bridge Michigan reports, “Michigan schools must have at least 180 days and can call off school up to six days for things outside of their control like bad weather or health conditions. They can request a waiver from the Michigan Department of Education for up to three more days. If they go over nine days, they may have to extend the school year or add additional hours to the existing school day.”
Decisions about closing schools are made very early in the morning.
Calling off a school day is a balancing act of safety vs. inconveniencing the parents so most superintendents like to get the decision made by 5:00 a.m. That means they are up even earlier than that doing research and making calls.
Matt Stuard, Fowlerville Community Schools superintendent, made the call around 4:20 a.m. last Friday to cancel school. He told Bridge, “I have to make sure that my phone is not muted and that I’m available because you just never know, the forecast doesn’t always work out.”
Detroit schools close today due to cold weather.
One of the school systems that decided to close today due to the cold weather is the Detroit Public Schools Community District. The district’s website said, “Please be advised that all schools will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, January 16, 2024, due to dangerously low temperatures that are forecasted to drop significantly below zero with the wind chill. This is especially concerning knowing that the majority of our students walk to/from school or rely on bus transportation to travel to/from school. Central Offices will also be closed. Although the temperatures for Wednesday are also forecasted to be low and possibly below zero, we will wait until tomorrow to determine if temperatures will rise before canceling school.”
Weather policies are in place for some.
Some schools like Ann Arbor and Lansing have a snow day policy firmly in place for conditions. Others take a more measured approach and decide between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. how things will play out for the day.
Besides the temperature and wind chills, schools also take into consideration the conditions of their parking lots, how bad things are on the back roads, transportation challenges, ice, snow, the functionality of school heating systems, the ability of children to walk to school safely and other factors.
On Monday, many schools already had the day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day so they didn’t have to make a decision about keeping the schools open. However, others who had been scheduled to be in session ended up cancelling school for the day due to inclement weather.
