NYC School Closings: How To Find Out If The Kids Get A Snow Day

NEW YORK CITY — Sorry kids, it takes more than the threat of a few flakes of snow to close New York City's schools.

The first freeze of the season is threatening just half an inch of snow – not enough to give much of a chance of closures, though there's still a chance.

"Considering the time, children should be in school and shouldn't have left yet," said Department of Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia Monday afternoon. She said the first flakes were expected early afternoon Tuesday.

"But we are in contact with the Department of Education to make sure they are aware of the weather."

She added that forecasts can change rapidly, as was seen last November when less than a half inch of snow was forecast but more than six inches fell, causing chaos.

"Forecasts change significantly back and forth," she said. "Yesterday, there was no snow, earlier this week we had significant accumulation."

Officials usually consult the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management, the National Weather Service, the City Sanitation Department and the City Transit Authority to decide if the city's students should get a snow day.

Any updates will become available on a number of city sites as the weather changes:

1. Follow the Department of Education Twitter feed
2. Check out the DOE Facebook page
3. Keep tabs on the DOE Homepage
4. Check the NYC.gov website.

You can also subscribe to the New York City Patch newsletter to get updates in your inbox on New York City weather alerts, school closures and local stories.

Here's the weather forecast is detail, courtesy of the National Weather Service:

Monday Night
A 30 percent chance of rain after 4am. Increasing clouds, with a low around 37. Light and variable wind becoming southwest 5 to 7 mph after midnight.

Tuesday
Rain and snow likely before 3pm, then a slight chance of snow between 3pm and 4pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a temperature falling to around 33 by 5pm. Wind chill values between 20 and 30. West wind 9 to 17 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Tuesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 23. Wind chill values between 10 and 20. Blustery, with a northwest wind 13 to 20 mph.

Wednesday
Sunny, with a high near 34. Wind chill values between 10 and 20. Northwest wind 11 to 15 mph.

Wednesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 28. Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming calm after midnight.

Thursday
Partly sunny, with a high near 43.