Several school districts across McHenry County are announcing closures or e-learning days Friday as an extreme cold warning is forecast to start Thursday night into Friday morning, bringing in dangerously low wind chills.
According to the National Weather Service, wind chills are expected to drop as low as 30 to 40 degrees below zero near and north of Interstate 55 from 3 a.m. to noon Friday. Areas farther south will see wind chills ranging from 20 to 30 below zero, prompting a Cold Weather Advisory that continues through 9 a.m. Saturday.
All Crystal Lake School District 47 schools will be closed Friday, including all after-school student activities, Superintendent Kathy Hinz said in an alert sent out Thursday morning.
“As a reminder, when making the decision to close schools, we consider both the weather forecast (including ambient temperature, wind chill, precipitation and any warnings or watches in effect), the status of school buses, building and roadway conditions and the ability of our community to travel safely to and from school,” Hinz said in the announcement.
All Crystal Lake-based District 155 schools will be closed, with e-learning on Friday.
Algonquin-based District 300 issued a “winter weather watch” for Friday. The watch warns that schools have the potential to switch to online learning, have a late start, early dismissal or closure. No decision has been made as of Thursday morning.
If District 300 decides to made any changes to its school schedule, a notification will be released by 9:30 p.m. Thursday or by 5:45 a.m. Friday, according to the district’s announcement on its website.
Along with a closure Friday, Wonder Lake-based Harrison School District 36 is canceling its morning activity bus for Monday as cold temperatures continue with a predicted -20 degree windchill.
“As of right now, we are just watching this projection,” District 36 officials said in the alert. “If it changes to a warning, we will notify you on Sunday.”
School districts closed Friday:
- Crystal Lake School District 47.
- Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155, e-learning day.
- McHenry School District 15.
- Cary School District 26.
- Johnsburg School District 12, e-learning day.
- Wonder Lake-based Harrison School District 36.
- Huntley District 158, e-learning day.
- Woodstock District 200.
- Marengo-Union District 165.
- McHenry County College has canceled classes Friday and all buildings will be closed. As of Thursday, the college anticipates being open Saturday for appointment, registration, advising and support.
Check back for updates.