“So they’re dismissing school early on RUMORS of snow now?”
That was a post I saw on Facebook yesterday. It irritates me and I’ll explain why.
Twice in the past three weeks, there has been a CHANCE of snow. These were cases were winter weather advisories were issued. The temperature was about 35 and rain was moving in, but it COULD turn to ice or snow if it got below freezing. That is, if the precipitation didn’t move out of the area beforehand. Which it did. People overreacted. Schools dismissed for what seemed like nothing. People were tweeting #snOMG and checking in to Snowpocalypse 2011. Bread and milk were flying off the shelves at grocery stores.
This time, however, there was little doubt snow was imminent. A winter storm WARNING, rather than an advisory, was issued. The temperature was cold enough that it was clear any precipitation would be frozen from the very beginning. All one had to do was look at the radar, see most of Arkansas covered in blue, and realize that we were next.
Schools absolutely made the right move dismissing early this time. It was necessary to protect the kids. I left work about 1 PM, and as my car turned into a 2,000 pound sled on I-55 north of Goodman, I realized I should have left at 11. It was terrible out there. If I were a parent I’d have been furious at the school system if they’d kept school open all day.
Yeah it’s only 3 inches, and notherners say, “What’s the big deal?” The big deal is that Memphis isn’t prepared for snow. We have only one plow, and it’s at the airport. Memphians don’t know how to drive in snow. Yesterday made it clear to me that I don’t know how to drive in snow. I-55 from Goodman to the Tennessee state line was an absolute skating rink. On the 240, traffic inched along at a snail’s pace from the 55 interchange to Union. As I drove across the bridge just south of Lamar, which is known for accidents due to ice, I had someone following about 3 feet from my rear bumper. Meanwhile, someone in the left lane whizzed by at 45 MPH when the other two lanes were lucky to get up to 15.
Lesson to be learned from all this? People can be accused of overreacting to winter storm advisories all they want, but warnings need to be taken seriously. In a city as badly prepared for snow as Memphis, the kids need to be sent home when snow and ice is definitely on the menu, and it makes more sense to send them home before the roads get treacherous rather than after.
Our office in Horn Lake is closed today due to inclement weather, so it’s a snow day for me. On days like this I tend to wander the Downtown core and tweet what’s open and closed. Feel free to follow me at @paulryburn if you want.