Snowmagedon

After over three feet of snow fell in less than 24 hours, local residents were left digging out driveways and cars.

On the west side of Washington, it seems as if one snowflake cancels school and everyone becomes panicked. Leavenworth is a completely different story: snow days almost never happen. Starting January 6th, the Cascade School District had three consecutive full snow days, followed by an added late start. This was the result of getting 36 inches of snow in 24 hours in the greater Leavenworth area.

Superintendent Tracy Beckendorf-Edou shared on the KOHO Morning Show with host Chris Hansen that the Cascade School District does not like to call snow days. She went on to say that “our buses have chains; people around here are used to the weather and it’s really hard for us to call a snow day but the conditions here from the snowfall were extraordinary.”

On Friday January 7th, Leavenworth Mayor, Carl Florea, declared a state of emergency due to the excessive snowfall. This declaration, as stated in the City of Leavenworth press release, allowed for the City to use local resources to get help with snow removal much faster than having to go through all the normal technicalities (such as the bidding process). The press release also revealed that the City had put in a request for aid from the National Guard to help with “citizen welfare checks, food delivery, general snow cleanup, and private driveway snow removal.” The National Guard arrived on Monday January 10th and assisted in returning the Leavenworth community back to winter as normal.

During these snow days, many Cascade students rallied together with the rest of the community to help with snow removal. On Tuesday morning, a group of students even assisted Cascade teacher Mr. Hab with removing snow at his parents' house. Junior Tim Johnstone explained “With six of us helping, [snow removal] took maybe 30 minutes, if that, and Mr. Hab bought us food after so that was pretty cool.” Senior Colton Latimer summed up his snow days to “shoveling roofs, hanging out with friends, and almost beating Will [Biebesheimer] in Madden.”

While the snow days cost students and teachers three days' worth of class time, they also ensured that the Leavenworth community stayed safe, while giving people the opportunity to enjoy the unprecedented snow days. Superintendent Tracy Beckendorf-Edou also explained she will be applying for a waiver from the State due to the declared state of emergency for the missed class time. In the meantime, students are back at school and participating in normal winter activities.