Weather forces school cancellations
By Jill Gosche, jgosche@advertiser-tribune.comArticle Photos
Fact Box
Today's
forecast
Seneca County is under a winter snow warning until 7 p.m. today, according to the National Weather Service in Cleveland
There is a 90 percent chance of precipitation today, with an inch of new snow possible. A northwest wind between 20 and 30 mph is forecast.
Tonight there is a 50 percent chance of snow with a northwest wind at 15 to 20 mph.
Schools canceled classes Tuesday and already determined that day they would not be in session today.
Tiffin City Schools used its first calamity day Tuesday, and the district also is closed today. It has three calamity days remaining this school year.
Tom Anway, director of operations, said making the decision to close Tuesday was easy and was based on watching the forecast and taking the wind into consideration.
Officials attended Monday's National Weather Service debriefing at the county's emergency operations center, he said.
Anway said the district made the decision to close after 5 a.m. Tuesday and released the information through an instant alert system. Recipients get the message within about five to 10 minutes from the time it is sent.
This is the first school year the district has used the instant alert system, and it is a great tool the district has been able to use, Anway said.
"Parents love it, for the most part," he said.
Tiffin University closed its offices at 2 p.m. Tuesday and planned to reopen them at 8 a.m. Thursday. Classes scheduled for today are canceled and are to resume at 8 a.m. Thursday, according to TU's Web site.
Tuesday, Heidelberg University's campus closed at 2 p.m. with no classes after 1 p.m. Tuesday evening, Heidelberg's Web site did not indicate whether classes would be in session today.
Some governmental offices and agencies are closed today.
