Dartbeat Mythbusters: Snowdays at Dartmouth
As Yik Yak has informed us, Harvard has had three snow days this year. Disgruntled and confused, many of us have been left wondering why we, in contrast, have had zero this term, despite our inarguable reputation as the Ivy with the coldest, snowiest climate (Cornell, I’m talking about Ivies). This has birthed a rumor that goes something like this: Dartmouth has never had a snow day, not since 1769, and it never will. While we do love the idea of attending an institution that is too BA to ever cancel classes, we decided to look into the claim. And what we found is that — to the surprise of many —Dartmouth has had in fact had a number snow days, even in the last forty years. Below, we’ve listed the three most recent Hanover snow days (as far as we can tell from available records):
On the most recent snow day in Dartmouth history — and potentially the best Valentine’s Day week ever at the College—a storm that hit almost the entire half of North America caused then-president Jim Wright to shut down the College, asserting that only essential employees should report to work. Given the heavy snow accumulation in Hanover —over a foot — Wright even noted that essential employees could avoid heading into Hanover if doing so might endanger them.
2. “The Massive Nor’easter” | March 6, 2001
In early March of 2001, a massive Nor’easter said to rival the New England blizzard of 1978 shut down classes at Dartmouth. While many professors made the decision to cancel classes independently, Win Johnson, the College’s then vice-president and treasurer, made an official decision to close libraries and other College services on a Tuesday morning. The blizzard added six inches to the snow that was already on the ground.
3.“The Blizzard of ’78” | February 6, 1978
According to the recollections of alumni and our previous reporting, the infamous blizzard of 1978 forced Dartmouth to cancel classes in February of that year, leaving students to build snow slides high enough to reach windows in second-floor rooms. So much snow fell that the 1978 Winter Carnival was almost cancelled due to extremely dangerous road conditions, making the weekend a more intimate affair than usual for those students who were on campus.