Signal Mountain, Tenn., resident Rex Knowles thinks this month has felt colder than normal — and he’s right.
Compared to last year, the mean temperature in the Chattanooga area this month has been about 7 degrees cooler, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tenn.
“It reminds me of Connecticut and New York,” said Mr. Knowles, 61. “It seems more cold than it’s been in a long time.”
Today the highs will inch back into the 40s, with lows expected in the mid 20s, said Tod Hyslop, a meteorologist with the weather service in Morristown. Mr. Hyslop said there’s a 20 percent chance of precipitation Friday, which he said could be either rain or snow.
DECIDING TO CLOSEWhen school system officials decide if schools will close for weather-related reasons, they consider several factors, including:* Approaching weather patterns* Road conditions* The number of snow days the system has remaining* How much time it would take to get children home before the weather hitsSources: Johnny Cordell, Sequatchie County Schools; Elaine Womack, Walker County SchoolsWEDNESDAY CLOSINGSThe following schools were closed Wednesday due to weather:Bledsoe County SchoolsCherokee County SchoolsCumberland County SchoolsGod’s Little Acre Learning CenterGrundy County SchoolsMarion County SchoolsNorth Georgia Technical CollegeRhea County SchoolsSequatchie County SchoolsSequatchie County Senior CenterTri-County Community CollegeUnion County SchoolsVan Buren County Schools
He said another storm system is expected to roll in Sunday and Monday, making temperatures “quite chilly at least through the middle of the week.”
North Georgia residents should expect more cold winds today, with a wind chill of about 10 degrees, said Mike Leary, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Ga. Highs will be in the mid 40s, with lows in the mid 20s, he said.
Though it mostly has been cold, the occasional warm days can make residents even more hopeful for spring.
“It gets cold and then it gets warm, and you think it’s going to stay warm, but it just gets cold again,” said Sherry Landrum, 63, of Signal Mountain.
The up-and-down weather also takes a toll on area school systems. Several school districts closed Wednesday as a result of the cold and gusty weather.
When districts make the decision to close, it’s based on several factors.
“We stay glued to the Weather Channel and the computer maps that show the fronts moving in,” said Sequatchie County Schools Director Johnny Cordell. “We just more or less try to predict when it’s going to be here and base (the decision) on that.”
Mr. Cordell said the number of snow days the school system already has used also factors into the decision of when or if schools will shut down.
Elaine Womack, spokeswoman for Walker County Schools, said officials from several departments confer with one another and watch the weather to determine if they should stay open.
“We gauge how long it takes to send kids home on the bus, and how long it takes parents to pick them up,” she said. “It may seem to the public that schools dismiss a little early, but what we have to consider is we have to get those children home.”