Ceding to the expertise of meteorologists on Tuesday, the superintendents of our local school systems opted to close schools on Wednesday. They made the decision after being bombarded with warnings that south Georgia would be slammed with dangerous winds and rain within 24 hours.

As it turned out, the weather threat turned out to be largely overblown, although a tornado touched down in Grady County. Thankfully, no one was injured in the twister.

After waking to sunny skies on Wednesday, some criticized the superintendents’ decision, especially on social media. We believe the barbs are terribly unfair.

Think of what would have happened if our schools had remained open and the entire area was ripped by storms, leaving fallen trees and power lines in their wake. Bus travel would have been treacherous, especially on the region’s many dirt roads. It simply wasn’t  worth the risk of  injury or worse to our students and teachers when the experts were convinced bad weather was imminent.

Meteorologists can get away with being wrong without ramifications. Superintendents don’t have that luxury.