Snow Day (Bus Cancellation) Outlook for Monday, January 17, 2022
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CANCELLATIONS ALREADY ANNOUNCED (as of 9:00 PM)
Ottawa-Carleton District: With a major snowstorm headed to the Ottawa area, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is shifting to remote learning for all students, including students in specialized education program classes, on Monday, January 17, 2022 (LINK).
Upper Canada Public & Eastern Ontario CathoIic: Due to the anticipated poor weather conditions tomorrow, Jan. 17, all school transportation will be cancelled. Schools will be OPEN to staff and students. Students can participate in asynchronous learning activities from home. There will be no online synchronous learning (LINK).
After a longer than expected break from our snow day forecasts for the holidays due to schools going online for a few weeks, children across Southern Ontario are set to return to schools in person on Monday. However, it appears that return to school won’t happen until Tuesday for most parts of the region thanks to a snowstorm that is expected to bring one of the biggest dumpings of snow that we’ve seen in years. Based on the track of this system and the distribution of the heaviest snowfall, the highest probability for snow bus cancellations and even school closures will be in the eastern part of our region.
This storm is expected to be so impactful with rapid snowfall accumulation and blizzard-like conditions that we’ve decided to add a new category to our legend. The new ‘Stay Home’ category is basically where we expected conditions to be so dangerous out on the roads that it would be very very hard to see how buses can safely operate. And as a result, the chances of a snow day is 99.99% in this area which includes much of Eastern Ontario and the Niagara region. Travel in this area will be nearly impossible so school closures are also fairly likely (although some school boards have a policy where bus cancellations will automatically close schools).
The probability of a snow day (or virtual school day for some) will rapidly decrease as you head further to the west in our region where less snow is expected. The GTA including Hamilton and Central Ontario (Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton) has a very high probability (90%) of seeing a snow day on Monday, but it’s not as certain as those in Eastern Ontario and the Niagara region. The K/W, Barrie and Muskoka corridor has a fairly strong chance (75%) especially if Environment Canada upgrades the current advisory to a snowfall warning which will likely be needed based on the expected accumulation.
Southwestern Ontario including London and the Lake Huron shoreline is unlikely to see any bus cancellations as accumulation isn’t expected to be significant enough however it’s not zero. Deep Southwestern Ontario such as Windsor and Sarnia is very very unlikely to see bus cancellations as there will be barely any accumulation there.
If there are any cancellations tomorrow morning, you can be sure we’ll be up bright and early beginning at 6 AM with our bus cancellations live blog to keep you updated.
Disclaimer: Instant Weather has zero authority when it comes to bus and school closures. It is completely up to the school boards, bus companies, and local authorities as well as being up to parents to decide what is best for their children. This is simply our best guess based on our forecast. Also note that due to the current pandemic, some school boards have changed their policies on school bus cancellations. Some will continue the school day in a virtual format should there be school bus cancellations - check with your local board for more details.
