Johns Hopkins Gazette | December 8, 2008
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The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University December 8, 2008 | Vol. 38 No. 14
 
Seeing Snow? Here's What You Need to Know

By Dennis O'Shea
Homewood

Will the university close if it snows? Probably not. But you can be sure if you check the university's weather emergency hotline or its emergency notices Web page.

Information on any changes in university operations due to snow or other bad weather will be announced on the Johns Hopkins weather emergency hotline at 410-516-7781 or, from outside the Baltimore area, 800-548-9004.

The same information will be posted online at: http://webapps.jhu.edu/emergencynotices.

Enter the phone numbers into your mobile phone's address book and bookmark the Web address on your home computer so that you can check for announcements during or after a storm. Information on the university's status after an overnight snow is generally posted on the phone line and Web site by around 6 a.m., with frequent updates throughout the day in the case of a major storm.

Johns Hopkins' policy is to remain open on a normal schedule whenever possible, both because minimizing interruptions to teaching and research is a priority and because so many university employees and students are involved in patient care.

Though Johns Hopkins notifies local news media when it closes, cancels classes or opens at a later than normal hour, there are several reasons why you should rely instead on the weather emergency hotline or the emergency notices Web page:

The phone line and Web page make information on Johns Hopkins available as soon as a decision is made. Both are updated as soon as there is new information.

Both the phone line and Web page are available to you at all times. If you rely on TV or radio, you'll have to wait until the Johns Hopkins announcement comes around.

TV and radio will not broadcast announcements when Johns Hopkins remains open, only when it is closed or has a delayed opening. The phone line and Web page will provide you with information whenever the weather is questionable, even if it's just that the university is open as usual.

The phone line and Web page will provide the most complete and accurate weather emergency information available on Johns Hopkins. TV and radio stations must report on dozens or even hundreds of institutions; they do not have time to broadcast everything you need to know, including information on outpatient clinics, snow day shuttle bus operations, and library and rec center closings.

The university's policy on weather-related curtailment of operations is online at: http://hrnt.jhu.edu/elr/pol-man/section.cfm?id=35.

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