This browser does not support the Video element.
Light snow the rest of the night, cold sticking around
Rich Luterman says that while the snow is ending, conditions will remain bad for awhile as cold weather makes it hard to use salt to melt ice. Salt works best when it's above 20 degrees, according to Luterman.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - As the bitter cold settles into Metro Detroit and several inches of fresh snow is on the ground, many Southeast Michigan schools are canceling classes for Monday, January 26.
This weekend has been punctuated with arctic temperatures with wind chills in the negative teens. Then on Sunday morning, the snow started to fall – and didn't stop until there was about 4 inches of snow on the ground for most of us around 7 p.m.
That's right around when schools started making the call to cancel classes.
That marks a 4-day weekend for most schools after Friday's classes were called off due to the cold weather.
Districts use a variety of reasons to determine if school should be called off. See them here
For mobile readers, click here for a link to the closings list.
How snow days are called
Many parents and students may wonder what school districts call snow days.
FOX 2 talked with Superintendent Dr. Randy Speck and said Michigan K-12 public and charter schools are required to have 180 school days at a minimum of 1,098 hours. All of them are allowed six forgiven snow days and can apply for three more.
Things to consider when calling a snow day:
- Student safety
- Actual versus forecast
- Buses/Transportation
- Amount of snow/Wind Chill
- Timing of the call
- Earlier helps reduce stress for parents
- Balancing the call with how many snow days left
- Attendance/Instructional Time
- 75% Attendance