With a reported 10,000 students (14 school systems) remaining at school after hours on Tuesday, one might contemplate the "what-ifs." Most of the aforementioned were students in Jefferson and Shelby Counties, counties in which a mere dusting of snow was predicted. So could such happen to us? Absolutely, as weather does not follow a forecast; it does not recognize county lines; it does not adhere to timelines. In these schools, heating was not a problem and food was plentiful. Churches, city and civic organizations brought pillows and blankets. Parents who did make it into the school, some of whom walked, were advised to spend the night.
During a Tuesday night phone conference, Governor Bentley assured superintendents that whatever need existed, he would immediately address. It was comforting to see our students take such a precedence and the Governor placing such confidence in our educators by saying, "I understand the anxiety and the concern of the parents who cannot get to their children, but I want to reassure all the parents that if you trust your teacher to take care of your child during the day, they will take care of them tonight. Your children in these schools will be taken care of."
Much information is considered in determining whether to cancel school or not. We listen to forecasts from the National Weather Service (NWS). Montgomery news seems to gather most of its information from Birmingham, while counties to the west of us rely on services from Tallahassee, and Crenshaw County falls under the Mobile/Pensacola service area. Each of these branches of the NWS conducts its own briefings at various times with various points of emphasis (i.e. Birmingham would not emphasize a marine report as does Mobile).
Sunday afternoon the National Weather Service office from Tallahassee first placed Pike County under a Winter Storm Watch. Shortly thereafter, Mobile placed Crenshaw County under the same watch. Just as we did in 2011, when placed under a Winter Storm Watch, we contacted parents via School Cast. It was determined Monday that School Cast had not imported new numbers from STI. Thanks Mrs. Owens for noticing.
Monday, the Director of the Crenshaw County Emergency Management Association (EMA), Ms. Jessica Tomlin (former student and graduate of CCPS) conducted a briefing with local officials and the Mobile office of the NWS. Kudos Jessica!!!! It was then that the freezing precipitation timeline for our area was moved from 2 PM up to as early at 7 AM Tuesday. That afternoon, neighboring school systems conferred and District 3 superintendents conducted a phone conference. It was then that a few decided to close schools Tuesday and some Wednesday, too. Others opted for a 12 or 1 PM dismissal. School Cast was once again used, though this time we called 2,141 numbers, 1,507 calls were answered of which 946 humans answered and 559 machines answered. On average, you listened 66 seconds to the 68 second message.
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| Ice Ice Baby (Yeh, that was a little Vanilla, Vanilla Ice) |
It is Tuesday night, we have around 0.3" of ice, it is 25 degrees and it is snowing. Icicles are at least 10" long. Thoughts are of Thursday. EMA says it is doubtful that we will get above freezing until mid morning Thursday at the earliest. We could go late, say around 12 noon. Just kidding (as if anyone is listening to me now). We'll see.
It is almost noon on Wednesday. We had an inch to 1.3" inches of precipitation on top of 0.4 inches of ice. Icicles are 16-18 inches long now. Driveway is a sheet of snow and ice. I nearly lost my footing in the road. According to NWS, the high today is now 28 and the low tonight is 11. Thursday is looking more doubtful. We will wait on the phone conference today at 1 PM to make the call.
We had our conference call at 1 PM. We all agreed that it would be best to close tomorrow. Sorry for the mistake on the first call-out. I said tomorrow was the 29th and today is the 29th. Sounds like I need some fresh air but it is way too cold. See you on Friday.
It is almost noon on Wednesday. We had an inch to 1.3" inches of precipitation on top of 0.4 inches of ice. Icicles are 16-18 inches long now. Driveway is a sheet of snow and ice. I nearly lost my footing in the road. According to NWS, the high today is now 28 and the low tonight is 11. Thursday is looking more doubtful. We will wait on the phone conference today at 1 PM to make the call.
We had our conference call at 1 PM. We all agreed that it would be best to close tomorrow. Sorry for the mistake on the first call-out. I said tomorrow was the 29th and today is the 29th. Sounds like I need some fresh air but it is way too cold. See you on Friday.
