Long, Cold Days of Winter
By Janna Stevens
Living in Northern Wisconsin means accepting cold weather as a part of life. For the School District Of Superior it means monitoring the weather daily for possible snowstorms and frigid temperatures.
Each year around this time, the Superior School District gets questions as to why and when we close for weather issues. I wish I could say it is always black and white, but the truth is a gray area does exist.
A primary source we count on is the National Weather Service. However, we follow up with our own local forecasts, other school districts and key personnel located in various areas around our school district.
The National Weather Service provides key indicators on winter weather alerts. Winter weather related Warnings, Watches and Advisories are issued by our local National Weather Service office. Each office knows the local area and will issue Warnings, Watches or Advisories based on local criteria.
For example, the amount of snow that triggers a “Winter Storm Warning” in the Northern Plains is typically much higher than the amount needed to trigger a “Winter Storm Warning” in the Southeast.
We formulate our plan of action based on the alerts as follows:
| Warnings = Take Action! | Watches = Be Prepared | Advisories = Be Aware |
The National Weather Service also provides a Windchill Chart to assist school district in determining when to cancel recess, walking field trips and closing school altogether. 
The Superior District tries to make decisions on school closure the evening before the close so families have a much time as possible to plan for the change in their schedule.
Sometimes the decision needs to be made in the morning. If that is the case, we work to try to make that decision by 5:00 a.m. We count on our local radio and television stations to get the word out, but we also post the message on our website and Facebook pages.
