Snow day?

UPDATED JANUARY 14, 2014: There is a more up-to-date overview of Dal's storm policy and procedures available on this Dal News story.

As the calendar flips to January, storm season has arrived. We can expect our fair share of those mornings when you wonder if you need to come to Dal or stay home and batten down the hatches.

If you are left wondering about the status at Dal on a storm day there are lots of places to check out. The Dalhousie homepage is the centrepiece of communications activity around a storm day. The page is updated after the 5:30 a.m. decision to keep operations running or curtailed for the day.

At the same time a series of tactics are employed to make sure everyone can access their information somehow. A text message is sent out to those subscribing to Dal Alert, social media tools like Twitter and Facebook are updated, the switchboard is notified and put on alert, the announcement channel in MyDal is updated and phone trees are put into action. Then there's good fashioned radio which updates on closings or delayed openings just like in the olden, pre-social media days.

Reasons for a possible curtailment would include:

• Current and forecasted weather conditions;
• Feedback from Facilities Services indicating difficulties in maintaining the roads, sidewalks, and entrances to buildings in a safe condition;
• Feedback from Campus Security indicating motorists or transit drivers are beginning to experience difficulties;
• Cancellation or reduction of transit services;
• Ability of emergency services to access the campus;
• Disadvantages of sending individuals back into the weather once they have arrived on campus; and
• Anticipation that conditions will worsen or persist such that public transportation may not operate or roads may be closed as a result of storm conditions, which will make travel home unusually difficult or hazardous.

“The decision to curtail activities or to close the university due to severe weather is always in the interest of public safety,” says Mike Burns, Dal's director of security. “The obvious reason is the impact of weather on safe commuting to campus. However the decision also takes into account the ability of Facilities Management Operations staff to ensure that parking areas, sidewalks, and pathways are safe for pedestrian travel and university facilities are accessible for emergency responders.”

When the storms come – and we know they will – keep an eye on your communications method of choice for updates, and make sure to stay safe. And save up your strength for shovelling that sidewalk...

SIGN UP FOR DAL ALERT at https://dalalert.dal.ca/

This story was originally posted November 15, 2010