It’s been a cold winter here in the Hudson Valley. Poughkeepsie records only go back to 1949 but this February was the coldest with a whopping 12.7 degrees below average temperature. And then March came in like the proverbial lion breaking another record with -2 degrees F in the first week. And then there was the above average snowfall. With…
Bombogenesis – that’s the wonderful word that the indispensable (for our region at least) forecasters and watchers at Hudson Valley Weather introduced me to a few years back. It’s a meteorological term meaning rapid or extreme cyclogenesis often characterized by a barometric pressure drop of 24 millibars in a 24 hour period. And cyclogenenis means the process which leads to the…
I just tried to take a look at Central Hudson’s Storm Central page and in particular the Outage Map. But it seems our utility company is down and out right now. I was hoping to see all the triangles gone indicating that now everyone is fully powered up. Last week was certainly a challenge for all of us particularly for…
Dear PDS Families: A few lines (with minor edits) from division in-boxes and my twitter feed: Student: I just wanted to say how I’ve never been so productive or so academically aware on a Snow day. I’ve been working all day today and yesterday making up work for the D day and other classes. I feel home schooled. I miss school. 🙁 Faculty: Just…
A snow day is a gift of time for play, independent work and keeping connected in the ways that make sense for the work you want to do. When there’s a chance of a snow day everyone gets excited. And for all kinds of reasons. For many it is the potential for some good play time – a chance to…
School is closed tomorrow – Wednesday – because of the impending storm. In anticipation, middle school director George Swain spoke to the students at lunch about how to make best use of the day. (It included plenty of time for play and being outdoors if that is possible.) And this is from the letter he wrote to parents: Dear Middle…
Are we having a snow day tomorrow? Is school going to be closed because of the snow? What are the chances of no school tomorrow? When snow is forecast the day is punctuated with the buzz of questions like these. I love the assumption that, as head of school, I can somehow predict the future and control the weather. While…
A day of ice pellets and time to catch up a little. And it’s been a busy season as usual. The annual Peacemaker’s assembly was a really terrific event. Planned by the high school students in Bernadette’s Civil Rights elective it was an inclusive, moving, joyful multi-media event. All grades participated. Here are a few pictures to capture a little…
There’s a good article in the local paper on the inexact science of school weather closing. Our recent spell of sleet, snow, patchy fog, freezing drizzle, rain, freezing rain, rain mixed with sleet, wind, sunny intervals and ice pellets has been a challenge that we can only anticipate will continue. That phrase “wintry mix” brings to my mind colorful mega…