HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR CENTRAL OHIO!

[bob rulz]

They closed school for 5 inches?

DAMN, I want to live there.

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

Same here. We usually have to get about 10 inches to a foot, or more before they shut most stuff down

[ohiostorm]

Schools have been shut down here for an inch or so. Depends what time of morning it hits. We have alot of hills and backroads that dont get salted or cindered in time for the buses to get on them.

[Miss Mary]

SW Ohio, N Kentucky and SE Indiana (what we refer to as the Tri-state area) always have numerous school delays or closings for snowfall. Even a few inches. The reason? Twofold - Cincinnati (SW Ohio) is very hilly, comprised of 7 major hills/suburbs (Mt. Auburn, Mt. Adams, etc.). There is one street called Straight Street, that is as steep as any hill you'd find in San Francisco. When you hear on the news that Straight Street is closed, you STAY home, you know it's bad! The other reason we have so many closings is both Kentucky and Indiana have many rural communities with virtually no budget for salt. For example, Switzerland County in Indiana uses sand to treat their slick roads, they can't even afford to buy salt. That district closes at the first snowflake we joke. Another is Walton Verona in Kentucky (Jeremy will verify that district for me). In fact, my kids used to say - let's move to those suburbs mom! We'll get a ton of snowdays. Here in Cincinnati, most districts have one or two snowdays in a row for a crippling storm but mostly it's one at a time.

However, back in 1994, here is what happened in our school district (and all over the Cincinnati, Tri-state area). I might add this will never happen again!

-Friday before MLK Holiday, surprise snowfall, several inches. Schools closed.
-Sunday before MLK major snowstorm, into MLK Holiday. 10 inches on top of the previous Friday snowfall.
-Tuesday after MLK Holiday - schools closed.
Then sub zero wind chill temps started. I 75 in Kentucky, shut down for 4 days b/c of thick ice. Rural areas didn't have salt, plows to treat the sudden MLK storm.
-Wednesday thru Friday of that week - schools closed. The very last day was b/c buses wouldn't start.

What a week that was!

Mary

[bob rulz]

Wow.

Honestly, one day we got 21 inches in 28 hours and they DIDN'T CANCEL SCHOOL! It was insane. My district sucks.

[Miss Mary]

Bob - I hear ya. I have a sister-in-law who nows live west of Chicago, in Barrington. Schools are rarely closed for snow storms. She grew up here and said it's a regular routine when it snows up there. People get up very early, shovel their driveways and head to school or work. A normal day! Now in the past few years I recall below zero wind chills and fierce winds roll into the Chicago area. The Governor or Mayor, forget which one, declared that all schools be closed. For a 2 day period (I want to say a Thursday and Friday, hoping by Monday temps would have rebounded a bit). She called all the Cincy relatives and said - you won't believe this but we're off (she's a teacher and has a son in school still). She said that will likely never happen again. Instead of the numerous school closing scrolls on local stations, the Gov. just said ALL schools closed, no need to list them all.

We do go a little crazy down here with just a few inches of snowfall. The other thing in this area is our winters are not predictable. Some years we get hit hard (mid to late 70s), people learn to drive in snow and slow down. But then other years are so warm and mild, that when we do have a snow storm blow in, everyone freaks out and we have hundreds of accidents. Because either A. they forgot how to drive in snow or B. want to drive fast in their SUV's, saying they'll get thru, they're in their SUV and yack on their cell phone and C. causing a wreck. Never fails....... Compare this to what my SIL says about Chicago - most know how to drive safely in Chicago, b/c winters are bad up there.

So you might want to avoid Cincinnati in the winter! LOL

Mary