Snow Day (Bus Cancellation) Outlook for Thursday, February 3, 2022
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Heavy snowfall has brought widespread accumulation between 10-25cm throughout parts of Southwestern and Central Ontario which is expected to continue into Thursday. By the morning, the focus will have turned to the Niagara region and Extreme Southeastern Ontario where more heavy snow is expected throughout the day on Thursday.
With a Winter Storm Warning in effect from Environment Canada for the Niagara region and Hamilton means the chance of school bus cancellations and school closures is quite high ranging from 75-90%. Eastern Ontario also has a fairly good chance as heavy snow will impact the morning commute combined with some icy road conditions due to the previous rain freezing up as the temperatures drop. However, there is no current warning from Environment Canada out there so we’ve given them a 75% chance as it’s not set in stone.
A fairly expansive zone including Sarnia, London, K/W and Guelph has a 50% chance. This is mainly because the snow will end overnight, but with nearly 20cm on the ground in some areas, it’s possible that roads might not be clear by morning. The probability will quickly drop off to the north and west where the second wave isn’t expected to have much of an impact and the first wave will end around midnight giving sufficient time for clean up by morning. Can’t be ruled out though mainly due to the icy road conditions, but this will be a local issue and we shouldn’t see many school bus cancellations outside of the areas we mentioned.
It should be noted that there is higher confidence in this forecast compared to the forecast for today. We saw many cancellations in the west, but many school boards decided to roll the dice further east despite the forecast so they didn’t cancel buses. This likely won’t be the case for Thursday as heavy snow will be ongoing and it won’t depend much on forecasted conditions later in the day.
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.
