Good afternoon everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend with the few rounds of snow we got. That said, we are in the heart of winter and I think more school delays are around the corner.
The National Weather Service has issued a Cold Weather Advisory from 2 AM until 10 AM tomorrow. They are anticipating wind chill values as low as -12*F. Air temperatures will struggle to get into the 10s tomorrow.
In recent history, Cold Weather Advisories have a tendency to cause school delays, particularly when wind chill values get close to -15*F (the old threshold for the advisories a few years ago) and when the advisories are widespread. Considering Cold Weather Advisories have been issued throughout Eastern PA, I have a strong suspicion this will bolster the odds for delays.
A wild card is air temperatures: I do recall a few events where if temperatures were expected to remain very cold during the day, say no more than 10*F, it can cause some virtual days and closings. The temperature forecast, specifically for the higher elevations, gets close to this criteria, so we will need to keep an eye out for differing outcomes by district.
This is a great time to sign up for Premium membership! Premium members get access to district-by-district predictions for all schools across Pennsylvania. What about Pocono Mountain? What about Scranton? Now, each district has a local prediction. Also, a zip code tool has been added that provides both prediction and weather charts for an entered zip code. Membership is annual: signing up now covers you into early next winter too. Check it out!
Keep an eye out for school announcements this evening; usually if a school district is going to make a cold-related decision, it tends to be the night before. Looking ahead, there will be several opportunities for snow and cold-related school reactions – buckle up! Thanks everyone for the support and have a great rest of the day!
