Arkansas Snow Day Calculator: Ice, Snow, Make-Up Days and AMI

It does not take much snow to close Arkansas schools. By our rule of thumb, about 1 inch of overnight snow does it half the time in Little Rock, Jonesboro and Fort Smith, which average 2.8 to 3.6 inches a year, and 2 to 2.5 inches in Fayetteville, Springdale and Rogers, which average 6.6 to 9. Ice can do it too: by our rule, about 0.08 to 0.1 inch.

Type your ZIP code above to see the chance for your school, worked out from the National Weather Service forecast for your own spot.

Arkansas plans for closed days. Every district’s calendar must include 5 make-up days, or at least 30 make-up hours (state education memo COM-24-066, January 25, 2024), and since 2023 the law counts days of in-person teaching (Act 237 of 2023).

How much snow closes school in Arkansas?

About 1 to 2.5 inches of overnight snow, by our rule of thumb. The calculator sets each city’s usual closing point from its normal snowfall, so the snowier the town, the more it takes.

Arkansas'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.

Rogers, the snowiest of the 6 with 9 inches a year, has the highest closing point, 2.5 inches. Springdale (7.7 inches a year) and Fayetteville (6.6) sit at 2, and Jonesboro (3.6), Little Rock (3.5) and Fort Smith (2.8) at 1.

When it falls matters. The calculator counts snow and ice fully overnight (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.) and while buses run (6 to 10 a.m.), and less from the afternoon before. Snow that falls while it is above freezing counts for less, because roads stay wet. The National Weather Service usually issues an Ice Storm Warning for around a quarter inch of ice or more (NWS winter alerts), and a warning raises the calculator’s chance.

Where does Arkansas get the most snow?

Of NOAA’s 136 Arkansas stations with a snowfall normal for 1991–2020, the snowiest is Gravette, with 12.5 inches a year. Deer (9.7 inches, at about 2,375 feet, the highest of the 8 snowiest), Bentonville (9.5), Harrison (9.5), Lead Hill (8.2) and Mountain Home (7.8) follow.

Normal snowfall a year and normal December to February low at each of the 136 weather stations in Arkansas 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 136 stations in Arkansas

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

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

The middle of the list is 2.5 inches a year. The least snowy, Eudora (0.1 inch), Helena, Foreman and Crossett (0.3 each) and Kelso (0.4), get almost none. The calculator blends the NOAA stations nearest your ZIP code, so its numbers follow your own part of the state.

Do snow days have to be made up in Arkansas?

Yes, and the calendar has room for it. Since the LEARNS Act of 2023, a district must be open for on-site, in-person instruction for at least 178 days or 1,068 hours to receive the state’s teacher-salary funding (Act 237 of 2023). The 1,068 hours equal 6 hours of instruction on each of 178 days (memo COM-24-066, January 25, 2024).

Each year’s calendar must include either 5 make-up days or at least 30 make-up hours, and districts may also use scheduled professional development days as student days (memo COM-24-066). A 4-day-week calendar needs 142.5 days and 1,068 hours (2024–25 calendar guidance).

There is a quick fix too. On a traditional calendar, a superintendent who cancels school for inclement weather can make up missed days by adding at least 60 minutes to the start or end of regular school days, without board approval (memo COM-24-066).

Bigger changes to the calendar need local committee and school board approval, and a district that wants to switch to an hours-based calendar needs a waiver (memo COM-24-066). Beyond the built-in days and hours, we found no free snow days.

Can Arkansas schools switch to remote learning instead?

They can teach remotely, but a remote day does not appear to count toward the in-person days the law asks for. Arkansas’s Alternate Methods of Instruction (AMI) law lets the education commissioner grant up to 10 attendance days to a district with an approved AMI plan when it is closed to on-site instruction for inclement weather, a 2022 state memo explains (memo COM-22-144). The same memo says districts on an hours-based calendar cannot use AMI at all.

The LEARNS Act, though, asks for days a district is “open for on-site, in-person instruction” (Act 237 of 2023). An AMI day is a day the district is closed to on-site instruction, so it keeps lessons going but does not appear to add to the 178 days or 1,068 hours. The 2022 memo also said districts may still close for weather and make the days up later.

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

We found no state cold rule and no Arkansas district’s cold number in our research. Our rule of thumb watches the wind chill from 5 to 9 a.m. and sets cold points of about −12°F in Little Rock, −14°F in Fort Smith, −15°F in Jonesboro, −17°F in Springdale and Rogers and −18°F in Fayetteville. Each is the city’s normal December–February low minus 45 degrees.

The alert to watch is the 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 superintendent cancels school for bad weather and can make up the time with longer days on their own say-so, while bigger calendar changes go to the school board (memo COM-24-066, January 25, 2024).

We did not find an Arkansas district’s closing clock in our research, so check your district’s website, app or local news. The calculator reads snow and ice 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 Arkansas

• Closing snow
  • Little Rock 1 inch
  • Fayetteville 2 inches
  • Rogers 2.5 inches
• Ice
  • About 0.08 to 0.1 inch
  • Ice Storm Warning raises the chance
• School year
  • 178 days or 1,068 hours
  • In person since 2023
• Make-up
  • 5 days or 30 hours built in
  • Add 60 minutes a day
• AMI days
  • Up to 10 with a plan
  • Not in-person days

Questions people ask

How many snow days does Arkansas build in?

Every district’s calendar must include 5 make-up days, or at least 30 make-up hours on an hours-based calendar (memo COM-24-066, January 25, 2024). Those are days to make up lost time, not days off.

Do AMI days count in Arkansas?

They do not appear to count toward the in-person minimum. Since Act 237 of 2023, the law counts days a district is open for on-site, in-person instruction, and an AMI day is a day it is closed to on-site instruction (Act 237 of 2023). An AMI day still keeps lessons going.

How does Arkansas make up a snow day?

With a built-in make-up day, a professional development day turned into a student day, or, on a traditional calendar, at least 60 extra minutes at the start or end of regular school days (memo COM-24-066).

How much snow does it take to close school in Little Rock?

By our rule of thumb, about 1 inch overnight. Little Rock averages 3.5 inches of snow a year. Only the district decides, so check its website, app or local news.

Sources: Act 237 of 2023 (the LEARNS Act), Arkansas education memo COM-24-066 (inclement weather, January 25, 2024) and memo COM-22-144 (AMI days).

Facts checked October 29, 2026.

Updated October 29, 2026