03/04/09
Schools, forecasters jumped the gun Enough! I have had enough of overly alarmist weather forecasts and school officials who cannot wait to see how things develop before canceling classes and complicating life for thousands of parents.While I fully understand that Columbia is ill-equipped for any amount of frozen precipitation, one ought to at least see it falling before one presses the panic button. Had school officials waited even until 10 p.m. Sunday, closing schools would no longer have seemed warranted, because the forecast had changed.But I also place the blame on the local weather forecasters who, rather than admit they simply don’t know what’s coming, make worst-case scenario forecasts about “historic” snowfalls. Given the information they had, this was truly irresponsible and unprofessional. I am beginning to question their meteorological credentials. My humble advice would be for the weather forecasters to tone down their forecasts and for school officials to wait and see what is going to happen before canceling classes and making life miserable for all kinds of parents.LAWRENCE BOUDON
read more
