Arizona Snow Day Calculator: High-Country Snow and Closure Rules

Snow days in Arizona belong to the high country. Phoenix, Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler average no snow at all in NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals, and Tucson and Glendale 0.1 inch a year, so by our rule of thumb even half an inch overnight would close schools there about half the time. Up high it is another story: Flagstaff’s airport, at about 7,000 feet, averages 90.1 inches a year.

Type your ZIP code above to see the chance for your school. The calculator reads the National Weather Service forecast for your own spot and blends the NOAA stations nearest it, so a school in the mountains is judged by mountain snow.

When weather keeps schools closed for a while, Arizona has a rule for it: a district must apply to the state Department of Education for authorization when adverse weather closes schools for 3 days in a row or more (Arizona Revised Statutes 15-806). The year still has to reach 180 days or the hours set for each grade (Arizona Revised Statutes 15-341.01).

How much snow closes school in Arizona?

In the 6 biggest cities, about half an inch by our rule of thumb, the lowest closing point the calculator uses anywhere. The closing point grows with a place’s normal snowfall, and these cities have almost none.

Arizona's six largest cities: normal snowfall a year (NOAA 1991–2020) and the snowfall and wind chill at which, by our rule of thumb, schools there usually close.

Our rule of thumb: the usual closing point is 0.5 × (normal snowfall a year)^0.7, the cold point the normal December–February low minus 45°F. How the calculator works.

All 6 share that half-inch point: Tucson and Glendale average 0.1 inch of snow a year, and Phoenix, Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler 0. Ice counts too: by our rule of thumb, about 0.08 inch of ice closes schools where snow is rare.

The high country is different. For a place with 90 inches of snow a year, about what Flagstaff’s airport gets, our rule of thumb puts the closing point near 11.5 inches. The calculator works out each ZIP code’s own figure from the stations nearest it, and if your district rarely closes, or closes easily, you can tell it so.

Where does Arizona get the most snow?

Up high. Of NOAA’s 125 Arizona stations with a snowfall normal for 1991–2020, the snowiest is Bright Angel, at about 8,000 feet, with 126.2 inches a year. Flagstaff’s airport (90.1 inches), Mund’s Park (77.4), Bellemont (72.6), Pinetop (70.3), McNary (66.0), a second Flagstaff station (65.3) and Williams (65.1) come next.

Normal snowfall a year and normal December to February low at each of the 125 weather stations in Arizona with a snowfall normal in NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals for 1991–2020, with each station's location, elevation and how complete its record is.

The 10 snowiest and 5 least snowy of 125 stations in Arizona

Download “Normal snowfall at Arizona weather stations, 1991–2020” (CSV, opens in Excel)

Built from: U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 (National Centers for Environmental Information).

Snow in Arizona is a matter of altitude: those 8 snowiest stations all sit between about 6,470 and 8,000 feet. The middle of the list gets just 0.3 inch a year, and stations at Yuma and Youngtown average none.

Do snow days have to be made up in Arizona?

A district has to reach the state’s minimum one way or another. Arizona counts 180 days of instruction, or an equal number of minutes approved by the district’s governing board (Arizona Revised Statutes 15-341.01). The hours on a 180-day year are at least 356 for kindergarten, 712 for grades 1 to 3, 890 for grades 4 to 8 and 720 across 4 subjects in high school (Arizona Revised Statutes 15-901).

In March 2023 the Department of Education reminded districts that they must meet 180 days or the hours set for each grade, and that a 4-day-week calendar needs at least 144 days. For weather closures, it asked districts to file a help-desk ticket to change their instructional calendar, and charter schools to file an instructional days amendment with the State Board for Charter Schools. Falling short “may result in a potential impact to funding” (Arizona Department of Education).

To make up lost time, a 2018 department memo, written for the school closures of the 2018 teacher walkout, names longer days or added instructional days (School Finance memo 18-054). We found no rule that gives Arizona schools a set number of free weather days, or that says exactly what an authorized closure does to the 180-day count.

Can Arizona schools switch to remote learning instead?

Only where the district has set it up ahead of time. A district or charter school that adopts an instructional time model, after 2 public hearings, can teach up to 40% of its total instructional time remotely with no effect on its funding, from 2022–23 on (Arizona Revised Statutes 15-901.08).

When weather closes schools, the department told districts with an approved model to provide remote learning if their model allows it (Arizona Department of Education, 2023). So a remote snow day is a district option, not something the state guarantees.

How cold does it have to be to close school in Arizona?

We found no state cold rule and no Arizona district’s cold number in our research. In the big cities our rule of thumb sets the cold point near 0°F, the top of its range, because their normal winter lows run from 40.8°F in Tucson to 45°F in Phoenix: about 0°F in Phoenix, −2°F in Chandler and Glendale, −3°F in Gilbert and −4°F in Mesa and Tucson.

The alert to watch is the National Weather Service’s Extreme Cold Warning, which means extremely dangerous cold or wind chills are expected or occurring (NWS cold alerts). Each local Weather Service office sets its own thresholds (NWS wind chill chart), and the calculator raises the chance when a warning is out for your area.

Who decides, and when do families hear?

Your district’s governing board sets the closure policy, and the Department of Education authorizes weather closures that last 3 days in a row or more (Arizona Revised Statutes 15-806). In 2023 the department asked districts closed by weather to file a help-desk ticket to change their instructional calendar (Arizona Department of Education).

We did not find an Arizona district’s closing clock in our research, so check your district’s website, app or local news. The calculator reads snow from 6 a.m. the day before to 3 p.m. on the school day, so look the evening before and again early in the morning, since forecasts change.

Snow days in Arizona

• Big cities
  • Almost no snow
  • Half-inch closing point
  • Ice point 0.08 inch
• High country
  • Flagstaff airport 90.1 inches
  • Bright Angel 126.2 inches
• School year
  • 180 days or equal minutes
  • 144 days on 4-day weeks
• Long closures
  • 3+ weather days need state OK
  • Longer or added days
• Remote days
  • Up to 40% remote
  • Only with an adopted model

Questions people ask

Does Arizona have snow days?

They can happen, and the state plans for weather closures: Arizona law covers closures for adverse weather (Arizona Revised Statutes 15-806), and the Department of Education put out guidance on them in March 2023 (Arizona Department of Education). The snow itself falls mostly up high. Phoenix and Tucson average 0 to 0.1 inch a year, while Flagstaff’s airport averages 90.1 inches.

How much snow does it take to close school in Flagstaff?

By our rule of thumb, a place that averages about 90 inches of snow a year, as Flagstaff’s airport does, needs about 11.5 inches overnight before schools close half the time. Type a Flagstaff ZIP code at the top of this page for the calculator’s own figure for that spot. Only the district decides.

Do Arizona schools have to make up snow days?

Schools have to reach 180 days or the hours set for each grade, and the state says falling short may affect funding (Arizona Department of Education). Longer days or added days are the ways a 2018 department memo on closures names (memo 18-054). We found no set number of free weather days.

Can an Arizona snow day be a remote day?

Only if the district has adopted an instructional time model that allows it. Such a model can put up to 40% of instructional time in a remote setting without cutting funding (Arizona Revised Statutes 15-901.08).

Sources: Arizona Revised Statutes 15-806 (school closures), Arizona Department of Education weather guidance (2023) and Arizona Revised Statutes 15-901.08 (remote instruction).

Facts checked October 29, 2026.

Updated October 29, 2026