MPS Closed on Friday

Milwaukee Public Schools are closed again today.

I knew this was would happen.

I suspected it was going to be an extra long weekend for MPS.

From FOX6 News:

Milwaukee Public Schools will be closed on Friday, January 9th. MPS Central Services locations will remain open and all principals and assistant principals should report to their schools.

...The district has reviewed the weather forecast for Friday and determined it is in the best interest of students to close schools that day.

The wind is howling. It's bad.

Yes, it's going to be cold, but it's not "close school" cold.

Yes, a wind chill advisory is in effect, but there isn't a wind chill warning. Advisories are not uncommon in Wisconsin in January.

On Monday, the high temperature was 3 degrees in Milwaukee and the low was -6.

Classes weren't cancelled. They didn't need to be.

Today, the high is forecast to be 2.

Apparently, MPS has had a change of heart in terms of what triggers the need to close school.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Temperatures in southeast Wisconsin will feel bitterly cold, and winds will be brutal in the coming days.

But meteorologists say Milwaukee isn't expected to come anywhere close to a record low, and the winds likely won't be chilling enough to cause many school closings.

...It's Wednesday night when temperatures are expected to bottom out as an Arctic cold front moves in. The overnight low is forecast to hit minus 11, according to the National Weather Service in Milwaukee.

"The big story is the wind chill is going to be so cold," National Weather Service meteorologist J.J. Wood said.

...But the blustery winds won't be quite enough for southeastern Wisconsin to drive wind chills to minus 35 or colder, the threshold that triggers a warning when sustained for more than three straight hours.

A year ago, officials at multiple southeast Wisconsin school districts ordered school closings because of the extreme wind chill.

But most schools won't consider closing unless the National Weather Service declares the more serious wind chill warning.

The Weather Service in Milwaukee issued two such warnings last year, from Jan. 5 to Jan. 7 and from Jan. 27 to 28. On those days, wind chills reached minus 40 to minus 50 degrees, Wood said.

Even during an advisory, however, the National Weather Service recommends that anyone venturing outside wear a hat and gloves to avoid frostbite.

Many school districts are not closing Friday.

The fact is it's winter. Conditions today will not be pleasant. It will be very uncomfortable, but manageable.

A long weekend appears to be driving the decision by MPS to close school for a second day, not the weather.
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UPDATE, January 9, 2015, 11:00 AM:

The official temperature in Milwaukee, at General Mitchell International Airport is, 3.2 degrees. The wind chill is about -15 degrees.

Close school for this?

No.