There has never been a snow day in the history of San Diego schools. But we do sometimes cancel school if it rains. And if it’s too hot they send kids home because most schools don’t have AC.
The first rain of the year is always dangerous because when it doesn’t rain, lots of oil builds up on the freeways and things get slippery. So the first rain in the fall will slow everything down.
There’s not a magic number for the amount of rainfall. But sometimes it rains like .5″ per hour and that just makes everything a mess for schools. Schools are constructed differently because of the weather. So most schools aren’t self-contained with a roof over the whole thing. More common is that the school is a series of buildings and the “hallway” is just a wide walkway between buildings. So when it rains really hard and the kids have to pass between classes, electives, go to lunch… they’d get soaked. Also, many schools don’t have an indoor lunch room. They go into the cafeteria to get food and then sit outside or maybe under an overhang that blocks the sun. But there aren’t 400 seats indoors for kids to sit and eat, so even having lunch when it is raining hard is a problem. Lastly, not very many kids do PE indoors. When it’s sunny and over 60 300+ days per year, the issue with PE is usually being too warm, not rain. So that’s another class per period for schools to try to cram indoors.
So yeah, if it is going to be super rainy a lot of schools cancel. And a lot of parents won’t go to work.
This midwestern boy thought it was all cooky when I first moved out here. But some of it really does make sense when you see that weather affects the design of the school buildings.
Right now, the whole state of CA is freaking out about rain… we are drastically behind. And if it doesn’t rain it’ll affect CA residents big time. And the trickle down will affect the entire country since so much of the produce sold nationwide comes from CA… we need it to rain!
Thanks for the lesson, Adam, and know that we East-Coasters join you West-Coasters in praying for the Heavens to open with rain. We need our pistachios and kiwi! (and, of course, we fear for your safety during wildfire outbreaks!)
There has never been a snow day in the history of San Diego schools. But we do sometimes cancel school if it rains. And if it’s too hot they send kids home because most schools don’t have AC.
What amount of rain must fall to warrant a closing in SD?!
The first rain of the year is always dangerous because when it doesn’t rain, lots of oil builds up on the freeways and things get slippery. So the first rain in the fall will slow everything down.
There’s not a magic number for the amount of rainfall. But sometimes it rains like .5″ per hour and that just makes everything a mess for schools. Schools are constructed differently because of the weather. So most schools aren’t self-contained with a roof over the whole thing. More common is that the school is a series of buildings and the “hallway” is just a wide walkway between buildings. So when it rains really hard and the kids have to pass between classes, electives, go to lunch… they’d get soaked. Also, many schools don’t have an indoor lunch room. They go into the cafeteria to get food and then sit outside or maybe under an overhang that blocks the sun. But there aren’t 400 seats indoors for kids to sit and eat, so even having lunch when it is raining hard is a problem. Lastly, not very many kids do PE indoors. When it’s sunny and over 60 300+ days per year, the issue with PE is usually being too warm, not rain. So that’s another class per period for schools to try to cram indoors.
So yeah, if it is going to be super rainy a lot of schools cancel. And a lot of parents won’t go to work.
This midwestern boy thought it was all cooky when I first moved out here. But some of it really does make sense when you see that weather affects the design of the school buildings.
Right now, the whole state of CA is freaking out about rain… we are drastically behind. And if it doesn’t rain it’ll affect CA residents big time. And the trickle down will affect the entire country since so much of the produce sold nationwide comes from CA… we need it to rain!
Thanks for the lesson, Adam, and know that we East-Coasters join you West-Coasters in praying for the Heavens to open with rain. We need our pistachios and kiwi! (and, of course, we fear for your safety during wildfire outbreaks!)