Wicked Winter Weather Spells End to Full Five-Day School Weeks in January

Brutally cold weather has ruined the chances for any regular five-day school weeks in January in many Minnesota school districts—including Stillwater's, where Monday is the fourth day of cancelled classes this month. 

Winds will whip snow and drop wind chill values to -43 °F Monday, but Tuesday may not be much better—meaning Stillwater's superintendent and others around the state will have another tough call on whether to reopen on Tuesday. 

"The events of this winter are unprecedented, as we now face the very real possibility of having to add days to the school calendar to make up for the cancellations of school," District 834 officials said in an online announcement. "The school board will be discussing this in the coming days, and more information will be shared with you as these decisions are made."

One Stillwater family had a snow-day bet, with a hot drink riding on exactly when classes would be called off. (For more local reactions, see the Storify in the window above or at Storify.com.) 

Stillwater Patch posted a question for Facebook friends—when did they predict the district would announce Monday's classes cancelled?—at the exact time (4:45 p.m. Sunday) that District 834 officials were posting their decision to close. 

But the people with the biggest claim on Nostradamus-like prediction abilities are at the Hudson Public Schools, where the official 2013–14 district calendar had scheduled no classes on Monday all along, for teachers' professional development. 

(Hat tip on the observation about the lack of five-day school weeks in January to David Brauer.) For updates and other information about the community, join us on Patch, Like us on Facebook and follow Stillwater Patch on Twitter.