Weather a challenge in Whitehall area

Large amounts of snow last week and temperatures well below zero Monday and Tuesday have been quite the nuisance for residents in the Whitehall area. The winter weather has created problems for the Whitehall Schools who decided to use several delayed starts to the school day.

Whitehall Superintendent John Sullivan said the past few days have been a challenge but starting school at 10 a.m. allows students to get to the schools safely and for them to stay open. Sullivan added the late start also helps the parents of students who live out of town and may have difficulty getting to the school.

The schools had two delayed starts last week as well as on Monday where the National Weather Service reported temperatures dropping as low as -33 with a -42 wind chill.

Sullivan said they have adjusted the schedules at the high school as well as with the morning breakfast to make sure students are able to eat before school.

Jefferson County Sheriff Craig Doolittle said several things have been challenging over the last several weeks.

"The weather being one of them as we are responding to a large amount of vehicle accidents and have had several welfare checks on people due to the cold weather. We have also been dealing with search and rescue call outs to assist people in getting to their houses or another safe place. We are currently down two deputy positions, and several have been off sick due to the flu going around. Been a busy winter so far. Hoping for some warmer weather," he said.

The brutal weather also caused problems on local roads. Fish Creek Road was reported as completely blocked starting at the highway on Saturday.

Local rancher Bob Sims reported the temperature at his property was -43 at 5:30 a.m. Monday and had only reached -24 at 10 a.m. Sims said this is the worst temperatures he has had while calving.