To be fair, that sign wasn’t put up by a neighbour with delusions of King Canute. Rather, it’s strict instructions from the condominium association to the snow clearing crews that this is not a place to dump said snow. The snow clearing crews have respected that sign. Mother Nature, on the other hand…
We had a snow day on Friday. I guess it’s more accurate to call it a “cold day”, because there was no snow storm. However, the Waterloo Region District School Board has a strict policy that, if wind chills drop below -20’C, they take the kids into school early and don’t let them out at recess. If it drops below -35’C, they cancel school altogether.
Friday was right on that boundary, and the schools closed. And I have to say, whoever is behind the @wrdsb Twitter handle has to have some of the thickest skin around. He or she gets so many angry tweets whenever there is no school closing announcement (largely from kids hoping to avoid homework assignments or tests), and when the schools do close? Yup, they get it again, from people saying “What the heck? This is Canada! Why, in my day, when it got down to -35’C, they held classes outside! Built character! I only froze to death twice! Kids these days! They should get off my lawn!”
It’s worth noting that Winnipeg has a similar policy, but they shut down schools when wind chills dip below -45’C. That’s only ten degrees colder than what we have here. And given the sort of winds Winnipeg receives, and is prepared for… -35’C here in Waterloo Region does not seem an unreasonable temperature to shut down schools on.
It seems likely to happen again, though, tomorrow. Looking ahead, temperatures look to dip to -26’C overnight, with wind chills brushing -40. You’ll notice that I didn’t put a celsius or fahrenheit beside that number because, at that number, it don’t matter.
And, yet, as I type this, it’s 2’C in Anchorage, Alaska. Heck, it’s 2’C in freaking Nome! I think we’ve found the problem.
Hey, Alaska! You lose your air? Because I think we found it right here.