Minnesota Governor cancels all public schools on Monday because of extreme cold.

What I find interesting is that this decision was reached so early. Anything could happen in the next 3 days.

I ran at -22C = -7F with no hat or facemask this morning.

Tell those wussy punks to haul their butts.

I grew up on the Canadian Prairies and I never once had a school day cancelled due to cold. One time in 12 years we had a snow day because of 45 cm of snow that made residential communities impassable for most vehicles.

The coldest day that I can recall was one day in December, a few days before Christmas break, when the morning temperature was -35 Celsius, but, with strong winds of around 50 km/h that made it feel like at least -50.

I lived probably 4-5 km away from my school and managed to get myself there without any cold damage. It's true that I also remember seeing one idiot, who didn't want to mess up his hair, standing at a bus stop in a leather jacket, with no hat or gloves... To each his own... At any rate, I don't believe for a second that there are a significant number of children, living in a cold state like Wisconsin, who don't have Winter clothing. You can buy a hat and gloves at a second hand store for a dollar or two. It seems more likely that some students choose of their own volition to not dress properly in an attempt to impress their peers. The Government doesn't need to step in and protect idiots from themselves by canceling school. Maybe getting frostbite will be a learning opportunity for some children - teaching them to think for themselves, rather than always following the herd.

bolier wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

Scandinavians have no choice but to deal with the cold because their only alternative is to move to a foreign and less prosperous country.

Minnesotans have no such excuse. They are just crazy. Living in a place where it gets to 40 below is as dumb as living where it gets to 140.

0 to 100F, that's the sensible temperature range.

Norway doesn't get as cold as you think. Trondheim has an avg LOW of 24 F and high of 34 for today. Oslo has an avg high of 28 & low is 17. It's not Minnesota cold.

Maybe I know about more than just southern Norway. For example

Kids in Alaska have outdoor recess down to -20 F.

Schools stay open down to about -50 or -55.

Just sayin'

Bad Wigins wrote:

bolier wrote:

Norway doesn't get as cold as you think. Trondheim has an avg LOW of 24 F and high of 34 for today. Oslo has an avg high of 28 & low is 17. It's not Minnesota cold.

Maybe I know about more than just southern Norway. For example

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnmarksvidda

Most people live in southern Norway. How close is the nearest elementary school to that area? Probably many many miles north in Alta, which has an avg high of 20 and low of 8. Or you could go more north to Hammerfest where it's even warmer. Hallock Minnesota for example has an avg high of 10 and low of -8.

Minnesota is much colder on avg in winter than Norway.

our balls are bigger too wrote:

At any rate, I don't believe for a second that there are a significant number of children, living in a cold state like Wisconsin, who don't have Winter clothing. You can buy a hat and gloves at a second hand store for a dollar or two. It seems more likely that some students choose of their own volition to not dress properly in an attempt to impress their peers. The Government doesn't need to step in and protect idiots from themselves by canceling school. Maybe getting frostbite will be a learning opportunity for some children - teaching them to think for themselves, rather than always following the herd.

You've never stepped foot in an urban school (or area) have you?

Let me help you out by informing you that their life, mindset, and motivation is a little different than some privileged white Canadian.

theOTHERwhitemeat wrote:

Layer Wisely wrote:

Second question: Yes. I have lived in both Red Wing, MN and Edina, MN.

You sound like you've spent time in Edina.

In '96, the -60 reading were wind chills. Monday could be very similar...

Classic Edina cake-eater….

bolier wrote:

1000milesnorthofmn wrote:

20 below is considered the normal daily low temperature here in January, and schools never close due to temperature, which can be 60 below or colder. 20 below is actually quite nice.

Where are you that 20 below is normal for a low temp?

That's well below the low avg for even Saskatoon Saskatchewan which is 800 miles north or Fort McMurray Alberta which is 1500 miles NW.

sounds like Alaska or the Yukon

Layer Wisely wrote:

snuggles wrote: Extreme cold is nothing to mess with.

I actually agree, and I don't have a problem with the school cancelations. My failed sarcasm aside, I merely meant to convey that most of us who were school-aged children in the late-60s and early-70s can attest to the fact that such weather concessions were never made "back in the day."

I think there is quite a bit of truth to your last statement, but that reflects a concession to a change in public opinion more than a deliberate policy change on the part of schools. I teach at a high school where most kids drive to school or ride to school with peers. When weather creates dangerous driving conditions, some parents keep their kids home and then call the school to complain rather than putting their kids on a bus. Many allow their kids to drive and then call to complain that the schools are putting the safety of their kids in jeopardy. Since these are the same parents that must support school levies, at some point you have to decide to cave to their demands.

Note: We do build extra days into the school year in anticipation of snow days, so in nearly all years we still exceed the required number of days.

Note 2: The continued existence of extended summer breaks is also driven by the public who want that time for family vacations, summer jobs, etc. Cost reductions are driving some schools to reduce breaks during the school year, so that the buildings can be shuttered for longer in the winter. The day the voting public wants a longer school year, it will occur.

Poverty 101 wrote:

You've never stepped foot in an urban school (or area) have you?

Let me help you out by informing you that their life, mindset, and motivation is a little different than some privileged white Canadian.

Actually, for your information, I grew up in an inner-city neighborhood to a single mother who couldn't afford to keep the house heated above 50 F (at night she'd let it drop to 42). Most of my clothing growing up was second-hand but my mother never had any problem providing me with Winter gear. I always walked or biked to school (mostly because I enjoyed it but also because my mother didn't want to pay for bus fare). If my parenting situation had truly been so pathetic that I didn't own any Winter-appropriate clothing, I probably would have stopped by a school other than my own and raided the lost and found.

While it may be true that there aren't any inner-city schools in Canada that are as bad as the poorest schools in the U.S., I never met a kid at any school I attended who didn't own Winter clothing... though some chose not to wear it.

.... Make that shuttered for longer in the SUMMER.

Precisely. My point is that these temperatures, while cold, are routine from November into early April. We'd have to cancel school for weeks to a month at a time. Yes, there are poor people here too; poverty knows no boundaries.

sounds like Alaska or the Yukon

bolier wrote:

Most people live in southern Norway.

Most freckle-faced Germanic people

How close is the nearest elementary school to that area? Probably many many miles north in Alta.

If you knew so much about Norway you'd know there are schools in Karasjok.

And you have not disputed my main point which is that Minnesotans are crazy to live in such a cold place when they could easily go to a nice place like California or Florida or even Illinois. Instead you pointlessly argued with me about Norway. But at least you learned about Karasjok where reindeers roam.

Bad Wigins wrote:

If you knew so much about Norway you'd know there are schools in Karasjok.

And you have not disputed my main point which is that Minnesotans are crazy to live in such a cold place when they could easily go to a nice place like California or Florida or even Illinois. Instead you pointlessly argued with me about Norway. But at least you learned about Karasjok where reindeers roam.

Why do those people live in Karasjok when they could be living in balmy Oslo with the rest of their countrymen? Weird, it's almost like people have some kind of connection with their home.

fred wrote:

I ran at -22C = -7F with no hat or facemask this morning.

Tell those wussy punks to haul their butts.

That's a mistake you were lucky to get away with. Unless you're running a mile or two, you're lucky you funny end up with frostbite.

by having your names as global warming are you trying to say that this disproves climate change?

Starting tomorrow night International Falls, MN is looking at low temperatures of -31, -37, -25, -23.

The low temperature comes at about 6am. So -37 on Monday morning, good call by the Governor.

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/hdfForecast?query=international+falls%2C+mn

New Ulm in the southern part of the state is looking at -22 on Monday morning.

yyy wrote:

Kids in Scandinavia regularly go to school in temperatures below 0C!

LOL, big deal. 0C is 32F, barely cold. The -20F forecast is close to -30C.