A Snow Day Would Be Nice

Snow Chant
r. baumgartner


North, South, East, West
Snow's the stuff we love the best.
Bring it fast, cold and white
And PLEASE...bring a LOT...
Tonight!!!

Special Notes:
Written in 1990 by Richard Baumgartner, then a second grade teacher at Cub Run Elementary School in Fairfax County, Virginia, this snow chant has been proven to be 100% effective at creating snow (when conditions are close to being snow-producing). Former Cub Run second graders (who are now graduates of Chantilly or Centreville High Schools) performed this chant correctly but without supervision and were largely responsible for the record-setting snows of 1995-1996.

To be performed correctly, an individual must face north at 7 p.m. and recite the chant with arms extended WEST and EAST. The chant is recited three times, between each recitation the individual slowly rotates westerly (with arms still extended) and, upon arriving at the north-facing starting position, jumps up in the air, raises a clenched fist and yells SNOW! Ocean moisture (represented by the right hand to the east), mixes with the cold of the north and west and moves in over us.


CONSEQUENCES OF IMPROPERLY PERFORMED SNOW CHANT include, but are not limited to:

1. Rain...particularly if the individual faces south when reciting
2. Light snow...caused by not enough 7 p.m. participation
3. Light snow accompanied by high winds...caused by too quick a rotation
4. Sleet...too many participants facing south at 7 p.m.
5. Clouds...not enough participants grabbed moisture from the east
6. School