Last night the National Weather Service issued a Wind Chill warning for Nebraska because the temperature (with wind chill) could reach a negative 30 degrees. After this warning went out, almost every school/function in the area declared they’d be closed today due to excessive cold. Excessive cold? A wind chill of negative thirty is excessive? Since when?!
Now, when I was a young kid in High School, I had the joy of living in North Dakota. One day we went to school and the wind chill was negative 80. That’s right… negative 80 degrees. We didn’t get the day off. In fact I recall waiting at the bus stop that morning thinking it was a bit cold out. I used to tell people this and they’d look at me as if I told them I also had a pet Jackalope. Well, the joke’s on them now! After doing some checking, look what I found (pdf):
DAMAGE: North Dakota remained under a wind chill advisory January 16 after an
Arctic storm that started the previous day brought winds of up to 50 miles per hour
and wind chills of 60 to 80 below. The N.D. Highway Patrol reported blowing snow
resulted in the closure of the following roadways: 1-29, from South Dakota to
Canada; I-94, from Montana to Minnesota; U.S. Highway 83, the northbound lane,
from Bismarck to Minot; and U.S. Highway 2, from Grand Forks to Lakota. The
Highway Patrol has since reopened U.S. Highway 83, I-94, I-29 and U.S. Highway 2.
County offices closed early, and classes were suspended January 15 in many North
Dakota schools as a result of the ninth snow storm of the season. Many school
superintendents have expressed concern about the number of school days missed
and are asking the Governor to forgive those missed days.
There… notice how it said “classes were suspended January 15 in many North
Dakota schools” and not “all North Dakota schools”? So just sayin’… negative 30 is nothing to shut down school for, especially if there’s no snow with it (did I mention it was also snowing that day back in 1997?). Sheesh… kids today!
