Weather leads to canceled class for second time in February

Little more than a week after the University's first snow day of the year, winter weather has caused more canceled classes.

Snow began falling early Tuesday morning and continued through the afternoon, with slightly less than an inch of accumulation. Though the University did not enact the severe weather policy or cancel any classes Tuesday, Duke announced Tuesday evening that the threat of black ice Wednesday morning meant the weather policy would go into effect from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and all classes starting before 11 a.m. would be canceled.

Other area schools announced cancellations earlier in the day Tuesday—with North Carolina State University canceling classes after 11 a.m., North Carolina Central University canceling classes after 11:30 a.m. and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill canceling classes after 2:30 p.m. Durham Public Schools initially announced a two-hour delay before closing schools for the day.

Duke had been monitoring the chance of snow throughout the weekend and was prepared for Tuesday's weather, Vice President for Administration Kyle Cavanaugh said.

"It's nowhere near as bad as what we had last week," Cavanaugh said, referring to the nearly two inches of snow that fell a week ago.

The University stayed in contact with state and city officials throughout the day. Crews began salting campus roads early Tuesday, he said.

"Starting at about 6 a.m. both the Health System and the University had teams of people deployed across both the campus and the Health System—roads, walks and parking lots," Cavanaugh said. "The challenge is with the literal millions of square feet of space, to be able to get everything."

He noted that despite the snow, the University did not experience any safety issues Tuesday. The bus system ran unimpeded without any accidents as of Tuesday afternoon, he said.

Though additional precipitation is not expected during the day Wednesday, the evening could bring more snow—with two to four inches predicted by the National Weather Service.

"We're preparing and talking about what we may need to do for those issues," Cavanaugh said.