Look! A snowflake! Close the schools!

[SarahD]

I lived in two places where an inch or two of snow paralyzed everything. They had to close school because there were car wrecks and panicked citizens, and they had no plows, no sanding equipment. Most home owners didn't even have snow shovels. By the way, do you know how school districts prevent pranksters from calling in and canceling classes?
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/12/us/how-much-snow-kids-school-snow-day-across-us-dg/index.html

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Where do you live?

I've lived in various parts of the country, some of which have snowplows, some of which don't, places where residents can drive in snow and crappy weather, some where residents can blithely ignore bad weather.

I actually feel quite fortunate that I've lived in several parts of the country, and have experience with lots of different weather conditions.

Oh, and I originally grew up in northern NYS, north of Utica, NY, where the snowfall was just astonishing. When I was there in January, 1969, training to be a ticket agent for Mohawk Airlines, the other women in my class were from Syracuse, Rochester, Binghamton, and two from Long Island. I was recently from Tucson, AZ, but as already said, had grown up north of Utica. Anyway, the other women in my class were utterly astonished at the amount of snow they were seeing there. I more or less shrugged, as I was familiar with this kind of snow.

I'd been hired to work at DCA, Washington National Airport, and started there in January, 1969. In DC, most people there were from the south, had no experience with driving in snow or ice, and the city tended to shut down entirely in any kind of bad weather. Sigh. I will admit that I did not drive at the time, took the public bus to the airport, and honestly, want to live again somewhere that I can do all of my travel by public bus.

[SarahD]

2. I live in Washington now, pretty much free of snow.

But most people here know how to drive in snow. I lived in a DC suburb and can confirm what you say about lack of snow awareness there. I lived in Albuquerque, which was horrible because of all the people who moved from Dallas. My time in Saratoga Springs was great because I liked to ski. I never lived in Atlanta or Nashville or anyplace like that, but I spent a couple years in Norfolk VA and one inch of snow caused a complete shutdown until it melted. It's fun living in diverse places and seeing how local behavior varies in the face of winter weather.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. Someone who has also lived in various different places and climates!

And of course no snow plows can be a killer.

I currently live in Santa Fe, NM. There is a certain reliance on the altitude and dry air making the snow go away with minimal plowing. I'm very glad that I no longer work, and so can simply stay inside if I don't think the driving will be okay.

I've also lived in Minneapolis, then Golden CO, and Boulder CO. And the Kansas City area. (Go Chiefs!!)

I really like it that I've lived in various parts of the country. I have perspectives that aren't possible if you've lived in one city, or even in different cities in one state, your whole life. Even though I appreciate how wonderful that can be.

When I was still living in Kansas, around 20 years ago, schools got cancelled two days in a row after a relatively severe snowfall, because they were not able to plow out all of the parking lots in all of the schools for two days. Sometimes they cancel (at least in the Kansas City area) if the wind chill is too severe, to keep kids from having to stand outside in seriously cold weather. Other times, plowing the streets so the school busses can do their thing is a problem.