When Is It Too Cool For School In Central Minnesota?

It was -17 degrees on Tuesday morning, with a 'feels-like' temp of -31 thanks to the wind chill. Despite the chill, I dragged my butt out of bed at 4:45 a.m. and headed off to work.

The kids headed off to school at the same time as always and were dismissed as usual.

Later in the day my mom came from the Twin Cities for a visit and I took my kid to swimming lessons. In Minnesota, life goes on despite the cold.

Although I am sure it happened, I don't remember missing any school days for cold weather. I do, however, remember the legs of my not-quite-dry-from-the-dryer freezing solid at the bus stop when it was -20 outside.

Good times.

The forecast for next week calls for a low of -21 on Tuesday morning and -17 on Wednesday. There's no doubt that's cold, but is it too cold for the kids to go to school?

For School District 742, the temperature threshold for a school cancellation is -35 degrees Fahrenheit and includes the base temperature and wind chill factors.

Forecasted snow, ice and wind can also cause a cancellation, along with unsafe road conditions.

DISTRICT 742:

St. Cloud Area School District will rely on the National Weather Service/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association meteorologists for weather forecasts, and both transportation teams and county officials for information related to road conditions.

 

Cold-weather closures will occur at temperatures of 35 degrees below zero (either base or wind chill). The city of St. Cloud will be the location of the temperature determination. If a temperature is predicted to rise above -35° by 9:30 a.m., a two-hour late start may be considered.