I saw this story about how Minneapolis is closing schools because of high temperatures. And the temperature predictions I’m reading are for about 90F.
Snerk.
Seriously?
You know how Minneapolitans might laugh when people from places like, well, Brisbane, complain when the temperature drops below 50F?
Well, right back at you, guys, right back at you.
And please don’t tell me that this is understandable because your schools aren’t air conditioned. 90-95F is a normal Brisbane summer day, and schools here are rarely airconditioned. I didn’t see the inside of an airconditioned classroom my entire schooling.
What’s the humidity in Brisbane? Have you ever spent time in a region where temps in the 90s are accompanied by 60-90-100% humidity?
What’s the average temp in Brisbane - what are you kindly folks downunda used to? Minnesotans get two weeks of high temps (with high humidity) and the state comes to a stop.
(I was stuck there one of those weeks, long ago, with a house full of people with fearsome hangovers. It was a close to hell as I have gotten in my now much longer life.)
I’m in the Twin Cities, and I agree with you - its wimpy. My kids start school next week, but friends have kids who started this week. I grew up without air, and 90 isn’t heat stroke weather for healthy kids who are simply sitting in class (I’m not sure if I’d make them run a mile in it).
This is nothing. I swam through the streets of New Orleans in June. Yes, its hot, yes, its humid - but this isn’t Louisiana or Florida.
I think the big worry is that the predictions will be off - it isn’t that unusual to think it will get to 92 and for it to hit 100. And there is a lot more concern for kids with health issues than there used to be - one of my girlfriends is simply not sending her son - he’s asthmatic.
Tropic fellow here. Who also lived a few years in the Baltimore/Washington area, so going out around in mid-summer meant it was muggy AND there were muggings, just to add insult to injury
I’m with Dangerosa: Stay in the shade, keep hydrated, no outdoor PE, I could understand. But in truth it’s probably that the School Department at some point adopted a rule that if the Heat Index exceeds X number they have to call it off for the sake of some of the kids. I wonder how bad the* wind chill/snowfall *has to be before Minn/SP schools call it off in winter. Probably some number 20 degrees below the point where we tropicals cannot believe human life should even be possible.
OTOH, I can imagine that schools and a lot of other public facilities in MN are designed and engineered more to handle those winters and it was probably done in a way that is not readily adaptable to fighting the heat when the other extreme is faced, thus becoming extra-stifling.
They do call it off if it gets really cold - dangerous for the kids to wait for the bus. But it has to be really cold - its happened twice in ten years. Both times you could make "snow"with boiling water (which is a really cool trick!)
A lot of the schools aren’t air conditioned AND don’t have windows that open (because that would mean little Justin gets hung out by his ankles). Or if they have windows that open, they are the cranked transoms that you don’t get a lot of air through. In a school packed with bodies with no windows to open, it will get a lot hotter inside than outside.
And our bodies aren’t acclimated to it. But I still think its pretty wimpy (I grew up in the mid-South).
As a resident of DC who can attest that 90F and high humidity is known around these parts as Wednesday, this means that I never have to listen to anyone from the Twin Cities complain about how Washingtonians drive in the snow.
No it doesnt balance out.
Snow and cold are uncomfortable --and dangerous. Heat and humidity are only uncomfortable.
If you have no experience with driving on snow, then it makes sense to close the roads) even though the amount of snow is so small it makes a northerner laugh.)
It could be dangerous to be on the road surrounded by bad drivers, because driving on snow is a skill with must be learned, and you need to practice.
If you have no experience with heat and humidity…well, dammit…so what? It makes no sense to close anything. You might sweat a bit…but you’re a homo sapiens just like us tropical dwellers. Sweating is not a learned skill; You don’t get better at it with practice.
On the other hand…If you’re so stupid that you don’t know how to sweat…then, yeah, maybe they should close the school. Permanently. You northerners aren’t capable of learning, anyway.
-signed, chapachula.
Who once collapsed from hypothermia,and has lived in warm climates ever since.
18 Minneapolis city schools have no AC. Story I read said most of them don’t even have fans in the class rooms. So this is completely different than kids in 70 degree climate controlled classrooms and them cancelling because it’s hot outside. This is also not an issue in the suburbs, where the schools are newer and all have AC.
They didn’t (and don’t) cancel when it’s merely 90. They cancelled when it was 96-98 and the heat index was over 100.
Are you really looking to turn this into a battle of anecdotes? I’m going to bet that more folks have gotten sick from too much heat than from too much cold.
When it’s 90+ with high humidity, having 25 people in a room with no AC, no fans and no decent ventilation is a lousy idea. Not that I’d necessarily call off school, I’d probably do what they did in my elementary school, turn off the lights, keep things as cool as possible and generally consider it a lost day of instruction.
But we must think of the children! They mustn’t be allowed out unsupervised because of the risk of road accidents, and CERTAINLY not out on their bikes without a helmet. We have to keep everything germ-free - their poorly little immune systems can’t cope. Don’t let them out in the sun; their untanned skins can get burnt! Don’t let them play in unsafe, un-regulated areas or run in the playground - they might graze their knee or, OMG, break a bone.
On scorching summer days like today we should keep them in the safety of our homes, playing on their consoles with nice, germ-free, ice-cold sodas to stop the poor little ones getting hot. That’s much better than them getting an education in a hot and sweaty classroom. I had to endure all of the above, without any regard for my personal welfare, and I only just survived with my life intact.
Where do YOU live? Heat and humidity are dangerous as hell; possibly more so than cold, because if you’re sweating a lot, it’s very easy to get dehydrated before you realize it and suffer heat exhaustion or something worse like heat stroke.
90 with no A/C is definitely uncomfortable and you’ll sweat like hell, although I’d say it’s a stretch to claim it’s dangerous unless you’re doing serious manual labor in the sun.
(from Texas and spent the summer of 2003 in the un-airconditioned UK, and spent most of August 2006 in un-airconditioned schools in New Orleans)
Sheeit, here in Georgia, if we haven’t killed off a few high school players by the end of September, we don’t feel like we’re giving football its due respect.
