How to use it for Waterloo Region
The calculator opens on Kitchener-Waterloo with metric units, using the Region of Waterloo airport climate station. Enter tonight’s snow in centimetres, when it falls, any freezing rain and the morning temperature and wind: the wind chill is worked out for you with the formula Environment Canada uses.
STSWR’s own triggers, next to the calculator
Waterloo Region is one of the few places that publishes its reasons, which makes the result easy to read:
- More than 10 cm overnight. The region averages about 160 cm of snow a year and gets about 12 cm in one day once a winter. At 10 cm ending overnight the calculator gives about 60%; at 12 cm, about 70%.
- Freezing rain before or during bus times. Choose “Some ice” and the chance jumps to about 80% even with no snow, because a glaze can’t be plowed.
- Wind chill of −35 °C or lower from 7 to 10 AM. Enter −24 °C with a 25 km/h wind and the wind chill is about −37 °C: the calculator reads about 90%.
These are what STSWR weighs, not automatic triggers, so the calculator gives chances rather than a yes or no.
Townships first
Rural routes in Wellesley, Wilmot, Woolwich and North Dumfries are the first to go (WRDSB situations 2 and 3). If you live there, choose Rural. City routes in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge need a worse morning. A cold-only cancellation is situation 5: buses stop and schools stay open.
After you check
At 6 a.m., look at STSWR, WRDSB or WCDSB. Unless WRDSB announces situation 4, its schools stay open.
Kitchener-Waterloo: the numbers the calculator uses
| Snow in an average year | 160 cm (63 in) |
|---|---|
| One-day snowfall reached about once a winter (the snow tolerance) | 12 cm (4.5 in) |
| Average winter low, December to February | −9 °C (16 °F) |
| Climate station | Waterloo Wellington A, ECCC Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010 |
| Headline outcome | Buses cancelled (schools usually stay open) |
| Cold rule | Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region considers cancelling buses at a forecast wind chill of −35 °C or lower (7 to 10 AM). |
| Official call | STSWR: how buses are cancelled: Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region communicates its decision before 6 a.m. It looks at more than 10 cm of snow overnight, freezing rain, and a forecast wind chill of −35 °C or lower. WRDSB: “Bus cancellations do not automatically result in schools being closed.” |