Louisville is known for its location in the US being somewhat ambiguous. It could be considered part of the south, part of the midwest, even part of the mid-atlantic, but one place it most certainly isn’t is Alaska. That fact was challenged in the first week back from JCPS’s winter break, when almost a foot of snow combined with a thick layer of ice shut down the city for almost a full week. Louisville has not seen snow of this magnitude since the 1990s, and it was an incredible time for many students throughout the city.
“On that Sunday, I figured there was no way we went to school on Monday, but it was still really nice to finally hear the word that we had a snow day. Hearing we had the whole week off was even better,” says freshman Worth Dewees. JCPS made the decision to cancel school for Monday, the 6th around midday on Sunday, then made decisions for Tuesday and Wednesday, the 7th and 8th at midday on Monday. They again cancelled school for Thursday and Friday, meaning that JCPS students would spend the whole week at home.
This was because almost all side roads were still covered in ice and there was a chance of even more snow on Friday. This delighted many students, who suddenly found themselves with a third week of this extended break, which was a novelty.
Senior George Burke said, “I’ve never really experienced anything like this, but it was definitely nice.” Senior Avery Powell said, “I’ve never had a whole week off, and I did start to miss some of my friends at school towards the end but I enjoyed it.” This type of weather, while not unheard of, is incredibly rare for Louisville, and is something that has only happened a handful of times throughout the history of our city.
There were three major blizzards in the 1990s, one in 1994, 1996 and 1998. The one in 1994 was a historic storm, dropping over 15 inches of snow on the first day and ending up with close to 20 at some places across the city. It also had record low temperatures, down to -22 degrees, and parts of the Ohio River even froze. This was the snowiest day in city history, and the other two storms in ‘96 and ‘98 were also in the top 5. These days are incredibly rare though, meaning that Sunday, January 5th ranked right up there with these historic storms.
The first day it started snowing, January 5th, finished with 9.0 inches of snow, which was the third snowiest day in Louisville in January ever, the 11th snowiest day in Louisville history, and snowiest Louisville day since February 4th, 1998. This snow, combined with the ice, certainly warranted some days at home for the students to enjoy the snow.
A lot of students enjoyed the days inside, getting some extra rest and spending time with their families.
“It was great to be able to sleep in for an extra week. We also went sledding and that was a great time,” junior Preston Goodwin said. Powell concurred, “I spent a lot of time relaxing and playing board games with my family, which was good!”
The snow was a welcome surprise for students of JCPS, and is incredibly rare. Because of this rarity, the city was not equipped well enough to handle the sudden accumulation of snow and ice. There were car accidents all over the city and many side streets were icy for weeks after the original storm. This was part of the reason why school was cancelled, as buses would struggle to make it down narrow, icy streets.
JCPS not having school also meant that all athletic activities were cancelled. This was unfortunate, but necessary, and several athletes complained about this. Multiple basketball games were cancelled and several practices for all winter sports were cancelled. These were all finally restarted after returning to school on Monday, January 13th, albeit with a two-hour delay.
The two hour delay meant that students could get into the building for classes but also was safer for those walking to bus stops. It also meant that JCPS wouldn’t have to make this day up. Friday marked the sixth snow day this school year, after this whole week and the one day students were out because of inclement weather in late September. The board of education has already forgiven the day in September, however the district will ask for at least 4 of the snow days to be forgiven as well. JCPS builds 5 snow days into their schedule, meaning that they can afford to forgive those 4. Teachers also “telecommuted” on Friday, so the hope is that they won’t have to make up a day of work after the school year is over. At most, students will have to make up one day at some point throughout the remainder of the school year.
This week off was a delightful surprise, and many students welcomed the out-of-the-normal weather. Now they’re just crossing their fingers, hoping for minimal makeup days at the end of the year.
