It’s January. Cold and snow are to be expected. But they can’t always live up to an ever-increasing level of hype. Tuesday’s much-touted “bombogenesis,” for example, prompted Governor Patrick to postpone his State of the State speech and cities and towns around the region to call off school. But in Boston, at least, the storm left behind only a manageable dusting of light, powdery snow, and local officials who played up the storm — see Mayor Walsh’s Storify of storm preparations — have come in for some good-natured ribbing.
Still, New Englanders should probably see this week’s overabundance of caution as a sign that snow cancellations and delays will grow more frequent. As long as governments and businesses recognize that norms about weather disruptions are changing, and plan accordingly, there’s little harm done. For one, announcing school and business closings early keeps everyone safer should a storm live up to the direst predictions. Advance notice of an office closure also helps employees make provision to work remotely.
For parents, advance notice of school closures gives those who need backup child care more time to arrange it. But announcing snow days early may benefit kids, too. Using data from the Massachusetts Dept. of Education, a 2012 Harvard study suggests that school closures due to snow have little impact on student achievement, since most missed days are generally made up by tacking on extra days at the end of the academic year. Individual student absences, however, proved much more harmful to learning. And, researchers found, even moderate levels of snow led to a spike in students not turning up for class.
More predictability around snow closures lets everyone adjust accordingly. Because of this attitude shift, subsequent generations may be less likely than today’s New Englanders to regale their own kids with tales of trudging through a foot of snow to school. Then again, probably not.