PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The School District of Philadelphia announced that because of anticipated heavy rain, wind and temperatures falling into the teens on Friday, the city will have students receive digital instruction from home instead of in-person classes that day.
The district said all school and administrative buildings will close for the day, and all after-school and extracurricular activities will be halted as well.
Temperatures are forecasted to be in the 50s when classes are scheduled to begin, but meteorologists say that throughout the day, they will fall to potential flash freeze levels.
“It's those midday snow showers that are the gateway to the bitter, biting cold that will blast through the area,” said NBC10 Meteorologist Steve Sosna.
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“We're talking about wind chills that will drop into the single digits. What I'm concerned about, with 1 to 3 inches of rain [turning] into a solid sheet of ice, you’ve got to be really careful after about 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. on Friday as the temperature dips down to 18 degrees."
School District of Philadelphia students are expected to take Chromebooks home Thursday so they can receive teacher instruction Friday. They will be required to return the Chromebooks on Jan. 4 when students return.
The district will keep its five COVID-19 testing sites open from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.