Johann Snowstorm February 2015
The news media in Lebanon was reporting about a storm which was
approaching our region. Giving storms names is a recent development in
our region, and this storm was named Johann.
JLSS students were excited because they were looking forward to another
snow-break from school.
Johann started battering the coastal regions of Lebanon, but the Johann
Schneller School region was only having mild cloudy weather. We watched
on television the damage Johann was causing in the coastal cities,
mainly Beirut and Sidon, but we were not even having any rain. Johann
was being very kind to Johann Ludwig Schneller School, but our students
had a very different opinion.
We
were able to go through two normal school-days on Tuesday and Wednesday,
10 and 11 February, 2015. The Vocational Department had midterm exams.
We really did not want an interruption during that week, but Johann had
a change of mind and decided to favor the students' wishes this time.
At 2:30 PM on Wednesday we had a very strange weather phenomenon. It got
so dark that it felt like it was 5:30 PM, and a few minutes later we
had mud-rain pouring as we never saw before. The color of the rain was
the color of mud, and those walking in the rain had coats or jackets in
need of a good washing. The concrete roads inside school were soaking
with muddy water.
Minutes later we could see, every now and then, snowflakes falling but
not much. This was really agitating the boarding students who wanted
Johann to start snowing early so they could go home. Their frustration
was so bad it lead to a problem in Boys Boarding Home 4 of the older
academic students, later in the evening.
Snow did not start falling as the students wished, and they had to spend
the night at school! There was some rain late in the evening, but even
up until 2:00 AM on Thursday, there were little traces of snow.
We expected a bit of snow in the morning, and thus our announcement was
that if roads are open, we will open school later than usual at 9:00
instead of 7:50 AM; but if roads are closed we will close school until
the following Monday.
To the delight of our student our region had 5 to 10 cm of snow on
Thursday morning. We went through the usual routine of sending the
boarding students home. This is their second snow-break this year.
Students couldn't be happier. By 11:00 AM all the boarding students had
already gone home.
More snow fell on Friday, but we did not have temperatures dropping
below zero degrees Celsius. The snow was wet. It was melting very
quickly, although a lot of it had accumulated. The trees
in the mornings were fully decked with snow to lose most of it by the
evenings.
We were able to start school on Monday 16 February. With that
we have already lost ten school-days to snow-breaks. We have to
compensate for this loss before the end of the academic year!
Fasting for the holy month of Ramadan starts at the end of the academic year, so it is
not favorable to extend the academic year.
Unfortunately; lost days will have to be compensated for from the Easter
holidays and days of recreational activities!
Link to Video of Snowstorm Johann
Taken from St. Michael's Church Tower