Extremely cold weather and school closings rant.

[AngelicBrunette]

Yesterday was extremely cold. (-32C inc. windchill) EVERY school in the province was closed, EXCEPT my university. To me this is absolutely ridiculous, as it is a well known fact that [our] university buildings are spaced out, and students live off campus and have to walk a lot.

Elementary/jr high and high school students must simply walk out to the bus, get on, then walk the few feet to the school when they get there, yet their schools are closed and I have to walk around outside with a temperature of -32C?! WTF? It was so cold that my eyes were watering, and to be honest I was almost crying for real too, lol. My cheeks and nose were both in a lot of pain/numbness and I was scared that I was going to get frostbite. Frostbite can happen quickly in these temperatures and when people have to be outside for ~10 minutes in between each class, plus the semi- long walk to the uni and back home from your far off classes.

Personally, I am pretty annoyed over it and I am thinking of writing a letter of complaint.

Anyone else have to deal with this? ugh.

[out.of.focus]

Yeah it was -32 (windchill) the other day. I think that highschools and elementary schools should be closed but I'm fine with Universities being open.

I go to Concordia University in Montreal. Which province are you in?

Anyway, I think that at University we are all adults and if we choose style over warmth then we will suffer. Scarves, good gloves, boots and a warm coat are sufficient for me not to freeze on my way to school and back. I think it's just part of our climate and I am used to it. Worse case scenario I would wear a ski mask...kinda extreme but, hey, we live in an extreme climate! I don't like it but I've accomodated. Brrr.....

[AngelicBrunette]

But shouldn't parents be able to dress their child warmly enough, if we supposedly can? I just think it's dumb considering the amount of time they're out vs. us :p
I'm from the maritimes. I definately don't choose style over warmth, it was my face that was freezing. I attempted to fix this when I had to go back over later by wrapping a scarf around my forehead, wrapping it around my ears then tying it to the back of my head, then putting another scarf around my neck, and up covering to my nose, then I put up my hood of my sweater with a winter jacket over that :p Can't say that's for style :p It wasn't as windy then though, so it kept me warm.

[csdearl]

Hahahah sorry I can't help laughing they closed schools at -32. If they did that here in a normal winter no one would ever have to go to school in the winter time. Children are kept inside during recesses when the temp dips below -25. I remember walking from my residence to one of the buildings on campus and it was -40 (before wind chill) my eyelashes froze together. Although today it hs been relatively mild, last week the temperature sat around -36 to -25. I don't think you even know what cold is until you move somewhere like this it's crazy i tell you. I went home for Christmas last year and the temp. was around -10 in southern ontario I though it was balmy and beautiful no scarf no mits for me i was plenty warm my family thought I was nuts.

[truepeacenik]

I walk to work, and last week we got negative 16 F. I thought I was sooooosmart wrapping a thick scarf over all my exposed face except one eye.
great!
then I slog out to the snowpacked street, look down to chek my footing...

and exhale and fog my glasses lens...which promptly makes ice crystals.

SLoooow walk since I took them off and had to really guess what I was walking on.
I would have whined, but I traverse the path for many students of Colorado School for the Blind.

[spunkymonki87]

Just when I'm ready to complain about how cold it is where I live (35-53F during daytime; 'not sure what that is in Celcius, though), I remind myself that it gets much colder in other parts of the world.
That said, I think that it's a good idea to complain to the administration. Those who attend the university are students, too, and have much more riding on their shoulders than elementary school kids. People getting their degrees can't afford to miss more than one day of classes if they become sick whereas younger kids can.
If you can get ahold of some uncooked rice, stick a few tablespoons into two plastic baggies and then heat them in the microwave. The pouches will stay warm for a good while and will keep your hands warm if you put the pouches in your pockets.

[Laoise]

Originally Posted by AngelicBrunette

Yesterday was extremely cold. (-32C inc. windchill) EVERY school in the province was closed, EXCEPT my university.

... It was -32 with windchill? Or -32C without taking windchill into consideration?

I can NOT imagine school closing for that type of weather! Sure, if it's -35C, and the windchill is around -45 or worse, it wouldn't be flat-out silly for schools for close... but it wouldn't be smart either. My hometown's schools have stayed open to -50 windchills. Many people choose not to attend, but a good three-quarters just dress for winter, which isn't hard as we do it everyday in winter.

There are only a limited number of days per year things can close due to weather. I say leave those days for dangerous weather, and just dress properly when it's chilly. I would be furious if I missed a day of instruction for -32!

ETA: I go to Bishop's University, in the Eastern Townships. I've gone to classes with nearly -40 windchills, and my heaviest winter gear is back in Alberta still. I was a wee bit chilly, as the coat I brought out east is only really good for up to -35C in calm air (only -20C if it's windy!) but it certainly wasn't my university's fault I didn't have proper clothing!

[Foodie]

For us 'mericans:

[Kyamo]

Originally Posted by Laoise

... It was -32 with windchill? Or -32C without taking windchill into consideration?

I can NOT imagine school closing for that type of weather! Sure, if it's -35C, and the windchill is around -45 or worse, it wouldn't be flat-out silly for schools for close... but it wouldn't be smart either. My hometown's schools have stayed open to -50 windchills. Many people choose not to attend, but a good three-quarters just dress for winter, which isn't hard as we do it everyday in winter.

There are only a limited number of days per year things can close due to weather. I say leave those days for dangerous weather, and just dress properly when it's chilly. I would be furious if I missed a day of instruction for -32!

ETA: I go to Bishop's University, in the Eastern Townships. I've gone to classes with nearly -40 windchills, and my heaviest winter gear is back in Alberta still. I was a wee bit chilly, as the coat I brought out east is only really good for up to -35C in calm air (only -20C if it's windy!) but it certainly wasn't my university's fault I didn't have proper clothing!

I agree... IF it must close, it should be because of dangerous conditions such as snow or ice, not just plain cold. Missing a day really throws the semester off. (PS - I seriously considered Bishops, ended up at UofT)

[truepeacenik]

when I was a starving college student I'd go just to turn my heat down to 50 for the day but be warm. I was also editor of the school paper, so i still had to work. Why not be warm?

[AngelicBrunette]

Wow, I guess it can always be colder! :shock:

What do you guys do about your faces? That's my main problem, which was partially solved with the double scarf trial run (although as truepeacenik said, the glasses fogging issue happens when doing this). Anyway, I will probably employ this again when/if necessary :p

Laoise- -32 including the windchill. That was about the average for the day, it was around -35 with windchill early in the morning, and later at night I think it was around -30 with windchill. (seemed a lot warmer when I walked to lab, and without the 70 km gusts of icy wind hitting your face :p)
Wow, -50 :O See, though, you said about a quarter of people stay home (well if 3 quarters just dress for the weather), I think people shouldn't have to choose over safety and education. It would suck to have to get caught back up on everything just because you felt it was dangerous to go. I'm very curious what you guys do about your faces? With your body you can do many layers, but with your face it's more limited. I suppose you could layer a lot of face masks or wear a skidoo helmet or something

Anyone know what amount of time it takes to get frostbite and at what temperature?
I just found this a bit dangerous to be walking when all our lives [here] we've been brought up to avoid going outside as much as possible when it's this cold. On the radio, the announcements of cancellations was about 5 minutes long. Meetings, etc, all cancelled.

It may have to do with the fact that here it usually only gets to this temperature a few times a year, so people aren't used to it, and aren't sure what precautions to take. Whereas people like Laoise and csdearl are used to these types of temperatures so they just take it as a normal occurance and have proper clothes and stuff for the occasion :p

spunkymonki87- Thank you, that's kind of what I was thinking. How awful would it be to end up getting sick and having to miss classes? I would likely just go anyways unless I was vomiting uncontrollably, but it would make classes even more miserable than they already are :p and thanks for the great idea about the rice! I will definately try that out, I love the thought of little heaters in my pockets!

Laoise, you would be furious to miss a day for -32? Wow, I wish I could say the same :p I would be happy to miss a day for anything, must be nice to enjoy it (by missing, I mean having it cancelled. I always go to class because otherwise it's too much of a bother to catch up and it's just not worth it)


Sorry that that reply was kind of jumbled, I didn't really reply to people in any order :p

[Gaelic Girl]

Any body go to Queen's in Kingston, Ontario? We've been hit by the same front as Montreal, with lots of schools closing. My long johns, cotton tights, wool skirt, wool sweater, and down coat are Godsends!

[zule]

My sister lived in Alaska when my niece and nephew were little, and I was amazed at the temperatures they expected the children to go out for recess to play.

Here in California, we're having temps well below freezing. However, most of us don't even have coats, let alone scarves, hoods, gloves, etc. We also don't have things such as scrapers for our windshields to get the ice off (fortunately, I do, from back east). I don't even know where they're sold. IF they're sold.

I think a lot depends on what you're used to and the things you have to accomodate the weather. I doubt the Alaskans would do well in our desert climate, where it's well over 100 degrees for months, with no air-conditioning at my work place, for instance.

[Merlin]

Originally Posted by AngelicBrunette

Yesterday was extremely cold. (-32C inc. windchill) EVERY school in the province was closed, EXCEPT my university. To me this is absolutely ridiculous, as it is a well known fact that [our] university buildings are spaced out, and students live off campus (I live across the road, about a 10 minute walk to the main building) and have to walk a lot.

Elementary/jr high and high school students must simply walk out to the bus, get on, then walk the few feet to the school when they get there, yet their schools are closed and I have to walk around outside with a temperature of -32C?! WTF? It was so cold that my eyes were watering, and to be honest I was almost crying for real too, lol. My cheeks and nose were both in a lot of pain/numbness and I was scared that I was going to get frostbite. Frostbite can happen quickly in these temperatures and when people have to be outside for ~10 minutes in between each class, plus the semi- long walk to the uni and back home from your far off classes.

Personally, I am pretty annoyed over it and I am thinking of writing a letter of complaint.

Anyone else have to deal with this? ugh.

One difference of course is that at University level you're at an age where people also work full-time, and no workplace is going to give you a day off just because it's cold outside - so long as the internal temperature meets the legal minimum, the guidline for which in the UK is 16c accoriding the health and safety authority but the fact you have to go outside to get to work is irrelevant! In the UK they wouldn't close schools because of the outside temperature, only if weather conditions made it impossible/impractical for staff to get to work of if the transport buses were unable to run.

[truepeacenik]

I was thinking about strolling to the REI or ski shop and see what they reccomend for keeping warm.

How do you know you are from Colorado? You can't drive to work in 4 inches of snow but you can drive through 3 feet to ski.

oh, the postie guy said UnderArmor is the schizzzz for cold weather .