Photo: It's cold

I'm near Darien Lake. It's 10:33 and the temperature is -19. It will probably drop even more over night.

Don't forget to bring in your brass monkey!!!!!!

Howard, perhaps you can report on why schools were NOT closed, or at least delayed today, 1.24.11! You could find out the "standards" needed to close schools (IE:so many inches of snow and/or so cold then we close)...although maybe they are waiting to find a child off in a snow bank, or for a parent to sue over frostbite. I drove my two boys to school, but on the way we saw more then a dozen children either waiting for a bus, or walking towards school. I feel it needs to be questioned when children are expected to wait for buses, and/or walk to school in -9 degree weather. These "standards" should not be some top secret file that only can be known to a select few. Or, is the "standard when the district superintendents have a "feeling" the schools should be closed?

Well said Herbert. I was feeling the same thing. I kept our children home. We have had enough sniffles and sore throats and ears. It is regents week for the high schoolers whch I am sure has something to do with the hesitation to close. However, I still think it is ridiculous!

I believe Pembroke Central was delayed two hours.

I grew up in Greece, they were the first to close schools today, they NEVER close school, very rare! It really does make you wonder about the line of reason with closings!

Come on, put their mittens and scarves on and send them to the bus stop. Its not like they are at risk for exposure in 10 minutes.

@ Gabor, the delay in Pembroke Schools was due to a "fuel" problem, it was NOT classified as a weather related issue.

@Peter WRONG! "Its not like they are at risk for exposure in 10 minutes." WRONG!

0°F to -19°F (-18°C to -28°C) Frostbite possible. Exposed skin can freeze within 5 minutes.

-20°F to -69°F (-29°C to -56°C) EXTREMELY COLD. Frostbite likely. Exposed skin can freeze within 1 minute. Outdoor activity becomes dangerous.

≤ -70°F (≤ -57°C) FRIGIDLY COLD. Exposed skin can freeze in 30 seconds.

This data above is from the National Weather Service.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream//global/chill.htm

I said to dress for it first. Then they won't be. Read everything I write, not just the one sentence you are worried about.

Those diesel buses don't run to well in this cold lol !

@Peter, I was expecting to see the "grow a pair" line in your post here LOL ! When I was a kid we had to walk a mile and a half to school with only one shoe and we didn't complain !

I had to pick my son up at work last night-on the way home from Batavia it ranged from -5 to -9 on Rt.5,then my road it went from -11 to -18......my wireless digital thermometer said lowest was -17.7 around 7:40am....

The story when I was a kid was this: If the Superintendent's dog wouldn't go for his early morning walk, he closed school.

I'm sure that was nonsense, but it always put a picture in my head of a dog version of Punxsatawney Phil.

...

Peter,
They had a problem with the buses being able to start. Had nothing to do with dressing right.

And your cold weather knowledge is a bit weak. The average person, even dressed like you said will suffer cold injuries if out for 20-30 minutes in this deep cold

Peter, I did indeed read your entire comment! Included in YOUR faulty data "Its not like they are at risk for exposure in 10 minutes" I acknowledge you say dress appropriately IE mittens scarves etc. I can see two immediate problems w/ this though, A. exposed skin can not be 100% covered. B. there are many children that are w/o mittens, scarves, hats (there are kids that also go to school in shorts in winter as well). Before you say it, yes that falls on the parents, I agree but this should be taken into concentration when the temperature drops below freezing by school authorities. I ask you Peter, what would be YOUR guideline to close schools when temperatures reach whatever, and why?

My husband teaches in a different school district, their closing guidelines are a temperature and/or wind chill at -20 degrees or colder. I'm not sure if this is across-the-board guidelines or if it's done by school district.

I wouldn't close schools for low temperatures.

You close them when the roads are unsafe for buses.

You close them when heat, electricity and water services are hindered for what ever reason.

We live in WNY. It gets cold, it gets snowy and it can stay that way for weeks on end. If you can't deal with that, leave. There are plenty of cheap places to live south of here.

There are plenty of charities that collect winter gear for children. Many places have lost and found boxes with gloves an hats in them that have been there since last season.

I'm sure there are plenty of ladies at the 400 towers that knit and would love to feel like they are helping that could make dozens of pairs of mittens for people who can't afford them for what ever reason (though hopefully that reason isn't that Mom dumped another 20 into the scratch off machine or the slots at the casino).

Its not hard to get gear to handle the weather. Humans have been doing it for centuries. Only now in this age of weakness have we become so lame (as in the inability to move ones self around, not the vernacular used by todays youth) that we think -10 is too cold to justify not learning.

If we are going to make arguments that schools need to expand the school year in one voice and then in another complain that they are open when it is simply cold outside, which is the path that is correct?

I had to march in -50 wind chill in Great Lakes, Ill. I walked in the front of the formation, through the wind, carrying a flag in my right hand that was pinched between my thumb and forefinger. I was 18. These kids can deal with a 10 minute wait for a bus or short walk to school.

Chris,
I had to laugh at your post about the dog not going out for his morning walk.
Supt. Osborn, many years ago, explained to an assembly of Batavia High School students that he would let his dog out on a snowy morning. If the dog didn't find his way back to the house in less than ten minutes, then he knew it was time to close the schools.

As for Peter who feels that mittens and a scarf are enough to ward off frostbite on a child's delicate skin:
When you have children and on a day of sub-zero temperatures and wind chill, why not dress them in scarves and mittens and have them stand out in your back yard for ten minutes.
Since you plan to homeschool children, the issue of standing and waiting for a bus or walking to school won't effect you or them.
If they complain about the cold, just toss out "grow a pair".

It will be home school or private, haven't decided which.

And thats all that I got extra...Worked fine for me.

Peter,
That "I had to march" line doesn't cut it. I have done the same at an Army installation in North Dakota - big deal. Oh wow!

We had better clothing than the average person, and so did you. You also had people training you who knew what to look for in cold injuries.

I agree we should not close schools due to the temp., but your silly statement on the safety issue was just factually wrong when it is -5 to -14 out, like today.

John, my point was that was significantly colder and I was out in it, Little Johnny can survive his little wait.

400 Towers (and other complexes) have groups who knit or crochet scarves and mittens every year. They donate them to organizations to distribute them. One group, at one of the complexes, is known as The Happy Hookers, with reference to their crochet hooks.
Last year, we had one lady who made and donated over 60 sets.
Fortunately for the children, men and women who receive them, there isn't a 'mitten' police that determines who is worthy and who isn't in order to receive them.
They also make lap robes for those in the nursing homes. One of those things that makes sure that the elderly are comfortable while they are being waited on 'hand and foot' with your tax money.

Little Johnny isn't 18. He could be a kid of six or seven standing at the bus stop waiting for a bus that isn't starting. He could be a kid who is walking to school, and in Batavia many are mile walks.
Little Johnny, as Mr. Roach pointed out, doesn't have the winter clothes issued by the military.
Little Johnny, could be a kid in first grade. How can you compare your experience with that of a grade school student?

You are just completely mean spirited to anything I write aren't you.

John,
Stop being mean spirited.

Bea,
Your bitterness aside.

The winter gear the military gave me was far worse than what I had as a kid. The gloves sucked, the scarf and the ski mask were too thin and was easily penetrated by the wind, the boots were leather, no insulating material at all.

I stood in the cold plenty. And you know what, I played in it. That keeps you warm. Run in the snow, have a snowball fight (yes even at the school bus stop).

But thats ok because I know nothing because I don't have a kid yet and I couldn't possibly have any experience with dealing with the cold. I didn't grow up in Batavia, so I don't know. I moved here from Spencerport where it is never cold and we never get more lake effect and it is always sunnier. I really think your bitterness is affecting your thinking.

Also a mile is not far.

Peter,
Cold training: You don't play in the cold to stay warm when you have -5, and will still be out. The idea is to keep sweat to a minimum.

"I stood in the cold plenty". I bet you walked to school in the cold, uphill, both ways to.

John I went sledding and ran up the hill plenty of times when the weather was this cold. I was fine.

The knitting projects Bea described could hardly be regarded as preoccupations of bitter people.

Now, when I was a kid, home-to-school and back-again was a 30 mile trip. We had to climb over snowdrifts that topped the telephone poles, and it was an uphill trudge in BOTH directions. We had no shoes; we wrapped rags around our feet. And the umpteen books we lugged for homework weighed AT LEAST 50 pounds... Did I mention the wolves?

CM,
Now that's a tough walk!

CM,
Did you go to the same school as my Dad.
The stories, of how tough it was, got more hilarious as we grew older.
You missed, "...my friend and I had to share ONE pair of gloves." That was part of his struggle to get to the two room school house.
It wasn't until my sisters and I were adults that we learned that his farm was located less than a city block away from that school. It was just up the road from the farm house. He didn't lie about the hill. It was situated on a hill.
When we called him on his stories, and how he made us walk to school for years, his only defense was, "Well, it seemed like a long way when we were kids!".

Unless the criteria has changed recently, the policy for this BOCES District is a windchill of -25F before schools will be closed. Today wasn't so bad.

I have family in Northern Maine. The temperature this AM with the windchill was -40F and no schools were closed. Folks up there are a heartier group of people than some Western NYers apparently.

I agree with you Kevin. I do not know why some people who live in New York act like it just started to snow and become extremely cold for the first time in history. In regards to the comment that Herbert made about children without hats, gloves, etc... well IT IS the parents responsibility and if they don't have the funds to purchase the children's needed items for winter then perhaps they should seek assistance from a local organization who helps those in need. My thought is that the school system can't afford to close school unless absolutely necessary because they have a strict criteria to follow regarding education.

New York Vs. Maine Kidsicle Derby -or-
Why NY schools treat pupils differently than ME schools
(assuming the anecdotal reports are accurate)

In terms of Per Capita Lawsuits, 1 being lowest tort losses:
New York ranks among the worst four states for monetary tort losses (43 out of 50, overall).
Maine ranks among the top 15 states for lowering monetary tort losses (18 out of 50, overall).

Per Capita Lawyers:
New York is second (behind Washington, D.C.) with 20.4 lawyers per 10,000 residents. Maine is twenty-fourth with 9 per 10,000.

…Liability insurance premiums? Maine is 6 on the ‘best’ list, and New York is second to New Jersey on the ‘worst’ list.

Our annual average temperature is 58.6° F
Augusta, Maine annual average, 45° F

80% of Maine school children ride the bus. 43,000 Maine school children walk or find alternative transportation.
85% of New York school children ride the bus. Compared to Maine, 10 times as many New York (470,000) school children walk or find alternative transportation.