The safety of our students is our number one priority.  In the event of inclement weather, Cedar Springs Public Schools will follow the National Weather Service warnings and watches to determine both current and likely future conditions.
Occasionally adverse weather conditions or other emergency situations may make it necessary to cancel school, delay the start of school, or send students home early.  When these situations occur, notice will be communicated to WOOD TV 8, WZZM Channel 13, and WXMI TV 17 through the Grand Rapids Area Information Line (GRAIL).
In a 2-hour delay students will be picked up by the bus approximately 2 hours later than their routine pick-up time. Morning ECSE and Preschool classes will be cancelled. With a 2-hour delay in effect, parents, students and staff should monitor the announcements in the event of the delay changing to a cancellation.  The buses will not transport students to the first session at the Kent ISD Skill Center when a school delay or cancellation is issued.

Mindy Abbott sent us this photo of the second storm coming in on Monday morning, July 11. It was taken from the Goodwill parking lot off 17 Mile Road and Edgerton.

The storms that blew into West Michigan about 8:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, caused at least one fatality, and left several areas with heavy property damage.

The National Weather Service, in Grand Rapids, said that their storm survey team confirmed straight line wind damage in Kentwood, Holland, and Portage. In Kentwood, there were maximum wind speeds of 85-90 mph, about the same magnitude as en EF-0 or low EF-1 tornado. The winds uprooted and snapped numerous large trees, several homes were damaged, and many power lines were brought down by fallen trees. A man was killed in Kentwood when a tree fell on the garage he was in at the time.

Cedar Springs and the surrounding area had some damage, including a tree down on 16 Mile and the White Pine Trail that brought down a power line. Power was out in several pockets across the area.

Local meteorologists got this one right.

Snowblowing and shoveling was a common sight Wednesday morning after the blizzard the night before. Here Tyler Felty snowblows a path from the driveway to the front door of a home. Photo by J. Reed.

Over 1,000 schools, businesses, and other agencies were closed Wednesday after much of southern lower and central Michigan was paralyzed by the biggest snowstorm we’ve received in several years.
The blizzard began Tuesday afternoon and continued into Wednesday morning, with heavy snow, winds, and blowing and drifting that made most secondary roads impassable. Driveways were covered, and four to five foot drifts could be seen up against area homes. WOOD-TV reported that we received 17 inches of snow in the Cedar Springs area, and the National Weather Service unofficial map showed about 14 inches. The City of Cedar Springs did a good job plowing city streets, and most were fairly clear Wednesday morning.
Do you have storm pictures? Send them to us at news@cedarspringspost.com, or upload them to our Facebook page, with a brief explanation, and we’ll post them on our website.

Wait—where’s the driveway? The driveway to Cedar Springs High School disappeared under a heavy blanket of snow. Post photo by J. Reed.