Snow Days: Necessary or Nice?

This week, the Washington Metropolitan area[1] experienced its first snow of 2015. From the moment the snow was forecast until it actually arrived, the Washington, D.C. media was abuzz. The “First Snow of the Year” was reported before the convening of the new Congress and before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. An early morning Washington Post online reads,

“A snowy morning in Washington, D.C. (Impacts and reports).”

Impacts:  This snow is very light.

Snow total reports:

Dulles International — 1.1 inches

Reagan National — 0.8 inches

Even still, several school systems canceled classes after snow left roads in the D.C. area coated and slick. This reminded me of a 2009 USAToday article titled, “Obama girls’ snow day puzzles president.” In short, President Obama asked why his children’s school had been cancelled for snow and even said Washington, D.C. should “toughen up.” The article reported that the President joked that folks in Washington cannot seem to handle things (weather). The article also noted that the President had lived in Chicago, Illinois in which Chicago public schools had not closed for weather since 1999.

The early snow totals beg to question if the D.C. Metropolitan area cannot handle inclement weather. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes, D.C. weather commands attention. I still “get chills” when I think about “Snowpocalypse” in 2010 in which the metropolitan area was blanketed with 18 inches of snow and motorists were stranded for up to 18 hours. On that day, my trek home only took three hours, and I “thanked my lucky stars.” Two days later, “Snowmaggedon” arrived with 11 inches of snow. In February 2010, the Washington Metropolitan area had a snowfall total up to 32 inches.

No doubt, those snowfalls were worth talking about, but this week, as I looked outside my window, there was just a dusting of snow. However, many Washington metropolitan areas reported more snow.

I commute almost 100 miles roundtrip to work and appreciate I am afforded the opportunity to telework when there is inclement weather. I am sure others agree because this week’s traffic reports said many motorists and school buses were stranded even in two inches of snow.

A mid-morning Washington Post online reads,

“A snowy morning in Washington, D.C. (Impacts and reports).”

The morning commute would typically be wrapping up at this point, but many cars are still stuck on the roads in a snowy nightmare.

I am a federal employee who has resided in the Washington metropolitan area for 20 years. Having moved from the deep-South to the mid-West to the mid-Atlantic, I saw firsthand how other areas dealt with inclement weather. Two inches of snow caused a state of emergency in Louisiana but two inches of snow “took a back seat” to the Denver Broncos in Colorado.

Less than a month ago, the Buffalo, New York area reported 88 inches of snowfall, so I wonder how the Washington metropolitan area’s reaction to 2-inches of snow is viewed by those who have lived or currently live in colder climates. In other words, are one- to two-inch snow days necessary or nice?

[1] The Washington Metropolitan area includes all of the federal district and parts of Maryland, Virginia, and a small portion of West Virginia.

Cynthia V White is part of the GovLoop Featured Blogger program, where we feature blog posts by government voices from all across the country (and world!). To see more Featured Blogger posts, click here.