It is no secret that children love snow days. They get free time, can study for tests, and can watch the TV shows that they recorded but never got the chance to watch. Snow days give students a break and let them relax and prepare for the next day. This year, however, it seems like there has been a little too much of this good thing.
In the very beginning of January, Rockaway received 5-5.5 inches of snow. Near the end of January (January 21st), there were 4.3 inches of snow, and then 1.5 inches a few days later. With the other small snow storms of January, the total snow fall that month amounted to about 10-12 inches of snow. Though this seems a significant amount, the snow fall in only the first half of February, more than doubled this amount. February began with an enormous snow storm with 8 inches of snowfall. This one snow storm came close to January’s total snow fall! Again, a few days later, Rockaway received 4.5-5 inches. The snow storm of February 13, which gave Morris Hills’ students a five-day weekend, was the biggest of all the storms. The total snow fall for Rockaway during that storm was 17.3 inches! This snow storm surpassed all of January’s snow fall. The total snow fall of the first half of February is an astonishing 30 inches!
With six more weeks of winter still to come, according to Punxsutawney Phil, more snow will be on the way. So far, only one extra snow day has been used, and so the Monday after Easter will be a school day. Will any more days be cut from the spring break?
Many students may enjoy a day off during a snow storm, but sometimes the snow does more harm than good. Snow days may seem lovely, but there is always a tradeoff.
(Snow fall totals courtesy of http://climate.rutgers.edu/stateclim/?section=menu&target=wint1314snowtotals)