With meteorologists warning of heavy snow, freezing rain and rain to hit most of B.C.’s South Coast Tuesday night and into Wednesday, many families are planning for possible disruptions to schools and daycares.
However, most schools and districts do not make the snow day call until the morning of the event.
In Vancouver, a decision is made by school principals by 6:30 a.m. that school day.
The Coquitlam School District, 43, said the district will provide updates on its websites as usual as staff monitor the upcoming weather.
The University of British Columbia said staff hope to have information out by 9 p.m. on Tuesday ahead of the snow event on Wednesday.
But there are calls to consider the fact that improved modelling for weather events could give school districts more tools to make earlier determinations on closing schools and child care facilities.
“We know these types of snow days can be very disruptive to parents,” Premier David Eby said Tuesday.
Armel Castellan, warning preparedness meteorologist for Environment Canada, said he knows it is not his decision to make.
“But what I will say and I will echo the contracting crews out there who are talking about non-essential travel being put into question because the morning commute and the afternoon commute tomorrow will be very slippery, will be very tricky because even if you have snow tires and four-wheel drive, others may not and there will be people making poor decisions out there,” he said.
“Do you have an emergency kit in your vehicle where you can last several hours because somebody pushed you into the ditch, or you went into the ditch accidentally? That’s the question you want to ask yourself.”
Castellan said the way Environment Canada looks at models means it can provide warnings and updates for extreme cold or heat days in advance.
But snow events can be more challenging.
“I think the communications piece, which is then beyond just the forecast itself, is where we need everybody, all the agencies to work together,” he said, adding that some factors are about more than just the weather.
“It’s about whether or not fleets of buses have the right equipment and are ready and are resilient and can make those decisions the day before. Or do they need to wait till there’s actually snow in the ground to believe that it’s there and then have (a) knee-jerk reaction to it?”
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