Snowy Tuesday (Jan. 16)

The cold air is here. We dropped all the way to 9° at the GSD Home Office this morning, but temps will rise up into the mid-20s in advance of storm system that will pass by us to the south tomorrow.

We are seeing indications that there may be more snow on Tuesday than was expected a few days ago. NWS Albany is showing most of Berkshire County getting 3 inches tomorrow. (NWS Boston is showing a potential for as much as 6", but that's only if the storm way over performs.) 

But the timing is proving to be in an awkward middle zone. 

Snow could be falling for the run of the high school buses in South County, but most will not see snow on the ground until the elementary school buses are running. Light snow will continue for several hours before intensifying in the afternoon, making the return home from school challenging. 

This is going to be a very tricky call for Superintendents. Your more careful, conservative Super may gift their students with a full snow day. The rationale would be A) we haven't had many (or any) snow days; and B) I don't want to deal with the "why didn't you..." emails as a result of snow-covered roads at the time of dismissal. 

Your more "hearty New Englander" Superintendent will probably go with the full day of school. Their rationale is A) we just had a day off yesterday; and B) C'mon, people, it's only 3 inches of snow. Back in my day..., etc., etc. 

So, the GSD staff has scrambled up the Confidence Meter from yesterday. We now think that releases and snow days will be the calls tomorrow, but there is not a high chance of either happening. 

Even though the early release is like the "right" call for tomorrow, just remember that early releases are a giant headache. They work best when you know you have a big storm coming and you can call them the night before. Parents do not appreciate the day-of-the-storm early release call (unless they get to get out of work early as well (!)).

One thing you can pretty much bank on is that after school activities will be cancelled again tomorrow.

The NWS Boston "If the storm over performs" map. 

Stay alert. Maybe they'll be release calls tonight (unlikely). Maybe the snow starts earlier and we all get snow days (fingers crossed). We'll update if we learn anything new and noteworthy.