snoWatch

By using Blair's vast assortment of weather predicting equipment and also by watching the weatherman on TV, the snoWatch team has discovered a possibility of snow in the not-too-distant future. Winter 2003/2004 may have landed a glancing blow on MCPS last week, but by golly, MCPS isn't going to sit back and take it this week. Silver Chips Online is predicting a high probability of seeing Superintendent Jerry Weast outside in his boots beating back evil invading snowflakes with a bat and defending Montgomery County from cancellation. Stay tuned for more.

Here's what Weather.com and the National Weather Service are predicting:

Monday morning

» 30% chance of snow showers between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.

» Low: 30°

» According to the people who know about this stuff: "I don't care if you have anti-lock brakes, [if there is a wintry mix] it's like driving on a skating rink." – Warren Madden, Weather Channel meteorologist

Chips' best guess: 5% chance of cancellation on Monday; 40% chance of at least a two-hour delay. School will probably be open on time Monday. There won't be a significant amount of snowfall here before school Monday, and in the hours before school there will probably be nothing but rain. However, it might be cold enough in the northern and western parts of the county that a wintry mix will fall Sunday night. This could potentially cause the roads in those areas to still be slick, which could result in a two-hour delay. Readers at this point may be doubting the credibility of the weather predictions from Silver Chips Online following the last snoWatch, but they can rest assured knowing that several long, well-thought-out minutes were put into this one.

Check the Silver Chips Online weather page for additional information, including a link to real-time weather conditions at Blair.

MCPS weather policies can be found on their emergency information page.

snoWatch discussion: If snoWatch actually had a budget, should it be spent on getting weather equipment or a really cool van with snoWatch printed on the side?