BREAKING: @UWMadison has decided to cancel classes tonight through Thursday morning. This news comes as almost 12,000 students signed a petition asking Chancellor @BeckyBlank to close the campus because of the cold. #news3 pic.twitter.com/SUCN9XknQa
— Amanda Quintana (@AmandaQTV) January 29, 2019
I don't remember the UW ever being closed for cold. I think of UW students as being extremely cold-hardy — wearing shorts in winter, going hatless, parties out on the ice....
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55 comments:
Snowflakes.
Those kind of temperatures, closing is the right thing to do.
They will be partying now. The request is a pretext for some mid-week frolic.
Well played.
Madison got .0000000000000001" of rain on Jan 24.
"...even 10 minutes outdoors without appropriate protection will be very risky for frostbite."
So...? You would hope college students could put two and two together.
Only 12,000 students want a day off?
Just wait until the weather turns nice. That petition is going to set records.
Demand free health care, paid tuition, free footie pajamas and free hot cocoa for life. Go on. You'll be admired.
Two weekends ago I sent my 11-year-old off to do a day of cross-country skiing and musketry in 5 degree weather in Northern Vermont. -11 is way colder than 5, but 18 is a lot older than 11.
"I think of UW students as being extremely cold-hardy — wearing shorts in winter, going hatless, parties out on the ice...."
They'll be doing all those things. They just don't want to go to class.
as i remember, they cancelled school at iowa state for a couple of days back in '83 ('84?) when we had the week with highs below zero. The lows were below -20.
These next two days will be Much Worse? Watch your eyes; they might freeze
Henry said.... -11 is way colder than 5, but 18 is a lot older than 11.
should be about -25 wednesday morning in mad town
-25 is WAY colder that -11
Tuesday morning, 11 am, I would have been standing in front of an empty classroom?
Actually, I highly doubt it. Our graduate students are a motivated bunch.
As it is, I am retired and looking outside at the bright, beautiful day, coffee in hand. (and hoping the furnace doesn't give out and the non-frost-proof faucet in the garage holds out).
@gilbar -- You got me there. I was just checking the daytime temp on weather.com.
I'll walk into work tomorrow regardless.
I have found the 4 scarves I will wear. It's not very cold yet -- still above 0 -- so I'm wondering if it'll actually get as cold as predicted a couple days ago for tomorrow. I'm thinking maybe just -24 now.
I always appreciated that I walked to work on these kind of days. Better than subjecting the car to the wear and tear.
Was just outside. MM is right; its not cold yet.
The strongest reason for closing the UW is that a lot of people who work there (and many students) have school-age children, and the children's schools are closed. It's hard to meet your work responsibilities when you suddenly have your children at home and not taken care of by the schools.
But there are soooo many more public school cancellations than university cancellations, so it's part of life in Madison. I dealt with it for many years, but my predicament wasn't as bad as what most people have when there are school-age children and no stay-at-home caregiver.
Too hot, too cold, global warming, global cooling, never just right, are seasonal and decadal climate change.
"It's hard to meet your work responsibilities when you suddenly have your children at home and not taken care of by the schools."
I'm sure you realize that this issue is faced by people working in the private section all the time and they manage. At my last client, the workers who could not find alternative care brought their kids into work for the day. The contempt many people feel for government workers - We missed a paycheck! We are all going to die! - is fueled by stories like this. Suck it up, buttercups and figure it out.
"https://www.aos.wisc.edu/weather/msn_climate/"
I'm puzzled. It looks like UW meteorology (or whomever is reponsible for this data) has pre-popultated the temperatures for the next couple of days?
It's a good day for shops with the students free for the day.
This dog would sleep outside all winter @10,000 feet in the wind at -25F rather than come in the house.
When I was freshman in college in January of 1985 in Lexington, KY, we had a couple of mornings back to back that January when the temperature was 20 below zero. Classes weren't cancelled, though I think one of the mornings was a Sunday. I remember that very well- my friends and I didn't stay inside- the novelty of it all drove us out into it.
In Siberia, when a spit reaches ground without freezing, kids can play outside for an hour. If it freezes in the air, it is maximus of 20min of play-time.
"It's a good day for shops with the students free for the day."
But the sidewalks are slippery!
"The strongest reason for closing the UW is that a lot of people who work there (and many students) have school-age children, and the children's schools are closed "
If that's the rationale, it's only fair that the UW will give give everyone a refund. By my rough calculations, it's about $65/hour/student.
What a bunch of weenies. What's the point of that expensive Canada Goose jacket if you're not going to use it for what it's for?
The winter I moved away from Wisconsin (1976/'77) temps got down near -50, and even primary schools stayed open. These kids are wimps.
Could there possibly be a more generic White Woman name than Becky Blank?
Rush quoted from the Madison paper the same thing.
To contrast he found an article that 100’s of lakes in Wisconsin may never freeze again because of CAGCC. In the same paper.
Probably more snowflakes at Madison than in the past.
Is -25 a new experience for Madison? I grew up in eastern North Dakota and -35 was a normal occurrence a couple of times each winter. Sometimes it would not get above zero for a week or so. -40 at night to -10 daytime. Nothing ever closed. The only school closures were when the snow storm made rural school bus travel too dangerous. Just more of the pussification of America.
My prediction, abortions.
When I was at Michigan State we closed once for 30 below. They said it wasn't safe to walk outside for more than one or two minutes - instant frostbite.
When I was in the USAF, I worked on B-52s in colder weather than that. You couldn't wear gloves and do your job, either. Someone needs to inform these coddled infants that life happens whether they want it to or not.
It looks like UW meteorology (or whomever is reponsible for this data) has pre-popultated the temperatures for the next couple of days?
I don't see that. It was -23F on Saturday (new record!).
Is -25 a new experience for Madison?
It hasn't been that cold here since 1996. That was before Althouse was blogging!
After pondering this, I wonder how many people have car issues in this weather. Car won't start. Stuck in snowdrift. If I worked as a school bus driver I'd hate to be driving those vehicles in these conditions. The cold may screw up enough things that even if schools and universities were open, they would be functioning with a skeleton crew anyhow, and the potential school bus accidents are simply not worth it.
Further, I would trade the concept of 'summer break' for 'winter break' in a heartbeat. It is during winter I slow down the most. I have tons of energy during the summer - combining work and play is much easier. Not so in winter. We need more time off during this season - extreme snow and cold is as good as an excuse as any. I think the hibernation urge is key here.
These are not your fathers children.
Can we blame global warming?
Is that still a thing now that the sun appears to be producing less energy?
Leftists will turn to global cooling soon enough.
No beat will be missed.
I live in Madison and agree with closing the UW tomorrow - but don't like the appearance that without the petition the administration would never have decided this on their own. I was a little surprised that Madison public schools closed today, when many of the surrounding schools were open, Sun Prairie, Waunakee, Middleton, Stoughton, etc. And based on the Madison public school closure on Monday and today, they are now relying on forecasted conditions vs making the call in the morning around 5:00 AM. Both days were cancelled the night before.
I was out quite a bit today and it was cold - but doable. I had several appointments in the morning and drove to those. But at noon and later in the afternoon I walked to my neighbors to leave their dogs out. I wore my warmest hat and a neck gator, gloves with mittens over and ski/snow pants, I thought about wearing my ski goggles, but decided on sunglasses instead. I played with the dogs outside to run them around a bit (1 of the dogs is a 9 month old golden retriever, so he has a lot of energy!!). I was outside for about 20-30 minutes each time. As soon as any of the dogs showed a sign they were cold I let them back in the house to warm up a bit. Needless to say, the puppy didn't want to go in!
Dress appropriately!
The petitioners are unwilling to make an adult decision, i.e.; that it is too cold to go outside and attend class. Thus they require that the administrators of the school to decide for them, i.e.; give them permission to not attend class.
Conclusion (mine): Petitioners are infants. The question is who did the work to keep them in this state of being.
@Birkel: they already did when they changed to "Climate Change" from Global Warming.
“The strongest reason for closing the UW is that a lot of people who work there (and many students) have school-age children, and the children's schools are closed. It's hard to meet your work responsibilities when you suddenly have your children at home and not taken care of by the schools.”
Exactly. My daughter and son in law have been taking turns staying home with my grandkids since daycare and pre K have been closed yesterday, are today and probably tomorrow. The daycare workers have kids too.
My oldest granddaughter at the U of Minnesota said classes were cancelled today and tomorrow. She has to take a campus shuttle between some of her classes and standing on that bus stop is probably brutal.
“The last time UW-Madison canceled a full day of classes was in February 2011 because of a blizzard. In 2014, classes were called off a half-day because of extreme cold.”
https://madison.com/wsj/weather/uw-madison-schools-businesses-and-government-offices-close-in-response/article_e1ffd7f3-5d7d-5219-97ba-fc69b4eb58f9.html
"It's not a wall, it's a, umm, a ... partition!"
Or something. If an electronic wall is not a wall then an invisible fence is not a fence. Except, even your dog knows it is.
Although I'd have to agree that making it difficult for illegals to find employment in the USA would be far more effective.
My daughter in Minneapolis says you're not cold, you're underdressed.
An invisible fence is a good idea, butt how do we get them to wear the shock collars?
Ky has closed schools too and not all people agree with the decision.
"Bevin: Kentucky schools closing for wind chill is a sign we're 'soft'"
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/29/louisville-weather-bevin-says-closing-schools-means-were-getting-soft/2715053002/
They're made of specialsnow, that melts in cold weather.
And warm weather. Basically, they're just kind of melty.
Back in my day, students would cross country ski to campus during snow storms. We were tougher then.
With wind chill, it's supposed to fall to -50 or -60. I went out at 4:30 pm and my hands got painfully cold,- stiff and aching - while I walked less then 25 feet from the car to the store door. But I'm OK; I was stocking up on goodies, then back to warm rooms. In Chicago there's a building where they have no heat - heat went off in November, landlord never fixed it, city never made him. So pray for those people tonight. They're doing multiple heaters and leaving gas stoves on.
ttps://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/01/28/washington-park-chicago-heat-hot-water-cold-deep-freeze-chicago/
Ingen dorlig var Bara dorlig Clar. No bad weather, only bad clothing.
Stopped at the mall yesterday at 6:45 PM, it was closed.
Odd that people are only aiming at the University for closing when plenty of businesses and restaurants are closing. Quite a lot of restaurants closed all day Wednesday.
If the students are partying, it will be at home
SOFT!
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