To schools across the state of Indiana, the week of January 6 – January 10 will forever be remembered as the “Blizzard of 2014,” when 14 inches of snow fell upon Kendallville, and the rest of Michiana, like a blanket unseen since 1978. Schools were rendered paralyzed due to the drifting snow and icy roads, and the students, who had just finished their winter breaks, were blessed with an additional week without school.

When Thursday, January 9, rolled around, though, and students began to see warmer temperatures, cleaner roads, and more cars, a hint of reality began to creep into their minds: school may be in session on Friday. 21Alive’s chief meteorologist, Curtis Smith, had been receiving tweets on his Twitter account all week from hopeful students, wishing for each day to be cancelled, but on Thursday night and Friday morning, a Twitter craze spread throughout Michiana.

“I tweeted out that so many people in our area are on twitter, so we should try to get a trending hashtag.  Several people sent me suggestions, and I picked ‘#callitoff.’ I then tweeted it out and gave my opinion that many schools should at least strongly consider a cancelation for Friday.”

After seeing Smith’s opinion online, students began the Twitter campaign to convince their respective schools to cancel school by tweeting at their schools and spreading the word in any way possible.

“My name was being used in song lyrics and my face was being pasted on pictures of everyone from Jesus to President Obama to Miley Cyrus to Mount Rushmore and many more. I really liked the ones that put my name in place of Batman in the quote about being the hero Fort Wayne needs, not the one it wants,” said Smith about students’ tweets. “I was amazed. My oldest son and I just sat on the sofa and read tweets to each other for more than an hour and laughed our heads off. It was so weird, but so fun.”

Although the hashtag “#callitoff” was never officially trending on Twitter, Smith gained about 1,500 new followers in that single night, and he is still gaining more. Needless to say, Curtis Smith was every Michiana teenager’s hero on the night of January 9, 2014, as most schools were closed due to slick roads on Friday.

“I think this shows that our area is fun, witty, and likes to enjoy life.  To me, social media is all about having fun and connecting with people; this event was packed with both.  It was fun for everyone, and it brought students all over the area together in a common cause.  It also connected me to the students in a way that is very tangible.  I love how it played out.”

Curtis Smith began working for 21Alive on October 1995 and remains the news channel’s chief meteorologist today. In 2002, Smith earned the prestigious American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval, an award that no other Fort Wayne meteorologist has earned. He was also voted Fort Wayne’s Best Local Weather Forecaster by the Journal-Gazette.

Smith airs on Indiana’s NewsCenter in the evenings at 5:00, 6:00, and 11:00, and his forecasts are also posted on WeatherPlus.

“This community has a big heart, and I love the way we all rally around each other in good times and bad times.”