How Much Snow Does It Take to Close School? Inches by City

There is no national number: how much snow closes school depends on where you live. Where snow is rare, a little goes a long way; where it is common, it takes far more. By our rule of thumb, schools close about half the time with around half an inch of overnight snow in Atlanta, 3 inches in Washington, 6.5 inches in Chicago, 8 inches in Minneapolis and 11.5 inches in Buffalo.

The National Weather Service draws its own lines the same way. Its office for the Atlanta area issues a Winter Storm Warning for 2 inches of snow, while its office in Gaylord, Michigan, waits for 8 inches in 12 hours or 10 in 24. And in Massachusetts, a study by Joshua Goodman found that days with 10 inches or more closed schools, while days with 4 to 10 inches mostly did not, though they kept more students home.

Inches are only part of it. Snow that falls overnight matters more than snow after lunch, ice counts at tiny amounts, and cold can close schools with no snow at all.

Why does it take more snow to close schools in the North?

Because what counts as a lot of snow is local, and even the National Weather Service sets its warnings by local standards. Each of its offices issues warnings, watches and advisories “based on local criteria,” its winter alerts page explains, and the snow needed for a Winter Storm Warning in the Northern Plains is typically much higher than in the Southeast. Here is the snow that triggers a Winter Storm Warning at six offices, from least to most:

• Atlanta area: 2 inches of snow, or a quarter inch of freezing rain.
• Raleigh, North Carolina: 3 inches in 12 hours or 4 inches in 24 hours, averaged over a county.
• Baltimore and Washington: 5 inches, or 6 in six western counties.
• Boston: 6 inches averaged over a forecast zone, or 7 in the Berkshires.
• Binghamton, New York: 7 inches in a storm in New York, or 6 in northeast Pennsylvania.
• Gaylord, northern Michigan: 8 inches in 12 hours or 10 inches in 24.

The same three words, Winter Storm Warning, mean about 2 inches in north Georgia and 8 to 10 inches in northern Michigan. Districts describe the same gap from the ground. Fairfax County, Virginia, explains that because the Washington area seldom gets heavy snow, its roads take longer to clear.

School news

HOWMUCHSNOW?ITDEPENDS

Our rule of thumb follows the same pattern. These yardsticks show the snowfall at which, by our rule, schools close about half the time in ten well-known cities:

1. Atlanta1 in. of snow a year0.5 in.
2. Raleigh5 in. of snow a year1.5 in.
3. Washington13 in. of snow a year3 in.
4. Philadelphia19 in. of snow a year4 in.
5. New York29 in. of snow a year5 in.
6. Chicago39 in. of snow a year6.5 in.
7. Boston59 in. of snow a year8.5 in.
8. Minneapolis51 in. of snow a year8 in.
9. Denver47 in. of snow a year7.5 in.
10. Buffalo89 in. of snow a year11.5 in.

What did the Massachusetts snow day study find?

That big storms close schools and middling ones mostly keep students home. Joshua Goodman’s 2014 working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research used statewide student data from Massachusetts, plus closing records he gathered by emailing about 350 districts for the years 2003 to 2010.

He split school days into moderately snowy ones, with 4 to 10 inches, and extremely snowy ones, with 10 inches or more. Extreme days were strongly tied to closings. Moderate days were not, once the extreme ones were counted, but they were strongly tied to absences. In his summary, “moderate snowfall induces student absences while extreme snowfall induces school closures.”

Those days are rarer than they feel. The average Massachusetts student had 2.3 school days a year with 4 inches or more, and 0.3 days with 10 inches or more. The paper gives no single closing number: a footnote puts the gap down to measurement error, chiefly that some of those storms may have fallen in vacation weeks, and says most schools would also shut for 9 inches.

Superintendents have reasons to hold out, the paper notes. Parents must find child care, and the state requires 180 school days, so closings are made up later in the year; waivers are rare.

Goodman’s most surprising finding cuts the other way: each absence caused by bad weather lowered math scores by about 0.05 standard deviations, while closings showed no effect, which he puts down to teachers coping well when everyone misses the same day. Not everyone agrees. In a 2008 Maryland study, Marcotte and Hemelt found nearly 3 percent fewer third graders doing satisfactorily in years with five unscheduled closings, the average, than in years with none.

Our rule of thumb lands in the same range. By our rule, schools close about half the time at 8.5 inches in Boston and 9 inches in Worcester: near the top of his 4-to-10-inch band, just below the 10 inches where closings became common.

Where did the 2014 map of how much snow cancels school come from?

From Reddit, not from school districts. What we know about it comes from news reports at the time, so read it as a news story, not a study. A Reddit user posted it in late January 2014, and NPR wrote about it on January 31 (news reporting, NPR).

By his own description, he built it from hundreds of answers people sent him, “interpolated using NOAA’s average annual snowfall days map.” So it is an informal survey smoothed with a climate map, not a record of what districts did.

He was frank about its limits, a news service reported at the time (Great Lakes Echo). Its snow means what piles up overnight or within 24 hours, and its “any snow” color includes places where a forecast of snow alone is enough. In the Midwest and Great Plains, he said, wind chill and temperature often matter more than snow, so the map may mislead there. Big cities such as Chicago and New York often need more snow to close, he added, because they have more resources to clear it.

NPR summed it up as the South closing for any snow and the far North needing a foot or more, while noting that schools close for more than snow: cold in Chicago, ice in the South. We found no study that checked the map against real closings. Our rule of thumb uses the same idea, that snowier places need more snow to close, but builds it from each place’s measured snowfall instead of a survey.

Does it matter when the snow falls?

Yes, a great deal. Snow that piles up overnight is on the roads when the buses start, while snow due in the afternoon tends to bring an early dismissal instead. Montgomery County, Maryland, decides on early release by 10:30 AM when weather threatens the afternoon trip home, and Columbus, Ohio, can dismiss as early as noon.

Districts weigh timing in their own words. Minneapolis asks whether a storm hits overnight or during school. Gwinnett County, Georgia, says overnight road conditions make it more likely to cancel early in the morning than to let students out early.

The Weather Service draws the same line. Its Baltimore/Washington office issues a Winter Weather Advisory for just 1 inch in the metro areas when it falls in rush hours, 4 to 9 AM or 2 to 7 PM, instead of the usual 2 to 4 inches.

Our calculator counts snow by when it falls, from 6 AM the day before to 3 PM on the school day. Snow overnight (9 PM to 6 AM) and while buses run (6 to 10 AM) counts in full. Snow in the afternoon and evening before counts 80%, during the school day 45%, and the morning before 35%.

Snow falling above freezing counts less, because roads stay wet, and gusts of 25 mph or more during snowy hours between 9 PM and 10 AM, when an inch or more counts in all, make it count more. How the calculator works has the details.

Does ice close schools more easily than snow?

Yes. By our rule of thumb, about a tenth of an inch of ice closes schools almost anywhere: 0.08 inch in places with little snow, up to 0.18 inch in snowy ones.

The Weather Service treats small amounts of ice as serious too. Its Ice Storm Warning is usually issued for about a quarter inch of ice. Its Atlanta-area office counts a quarter inch of freezing rain, or half an inch of sleet, as warning-level, the same as 2 inches of snow, and its Boston office issues an advisory for any freezing rain on the roads.

Southern districts name ice on their own pages. Fulton County, Georgia, tracks when snow or ice starts and how much falls, and Nashville warns that icy conditions can affect bus service in parts of its large county.

How does our rule of thumb work out the closing point?

It starts from how much snow a place normally gets in a year. The usual closing point, the snowfall at which schools close about half the time, is 0.5 × (normal snowfall a year, in inches)^0.7, kept between half an inch and 15 inches. The normal snowfall comes from NOAA’s 1991–2020 climate normals.

The power of 0.7 means the closing point grows more slowly than the snowfall: a place with ten times the snow needs about five times as much to close.

Then the forecast takes over. The calculator weighs when the snow falls, any ice, the wind chill from 5 to 9 AM, and National Weather Service alerts: warnings add to the chance, watches and advisories less. If you know your district rarely closes, or closes easily, you can say so, and the closing point moves. The result is three chances that add up to 100%: a snow day, a late start or school as usual.

Try it here. Pick your city and move the overnight snow. The tool uses a plain storm, with snow between 9 PM and 6 AM and no warning out, so a real forecast can come out higher or lower.

Try the same 2 inches in Raleigh and in Buffalo, then find the amount at which your own city reaches a coin flip. These are the calculator’s estimates, not any district’s rule; only your district decides.

Every city on our snow day map, with its normal snowfall and its usual closing point by our rule of thumb, is in the table below, with a CSV file to download.

The normal snowfall a year (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals) and the snowfall at which schools usually close, by the calculator's rule of thumb, for 296 U.S. cities: the six largest in each state (Honolulu only in Hawaii) and Washington, D.C.

Show all 296 cities

City	Normal snowfall	Usually closes at
Alabama
Huntsville	1.8 in.	1 in.
Mobile	0.2 in.	0.5 in.
Birmingham	1.2 in.	0.5 in.
Montgomery	0.2 in.	0.5 in.
Tuscaloosa	0.1 in.	0.5 in.
Hoover	1.2 in.	0.5 in.
Alaska
Anchorage	76.9 in.	10.5 in.
Fairbanks	58.6 in.	8.5 in.
Juneau	84.4 in.	11 in.
Wasilla	66.3 in.	9.5 in.
Sitka	101.8 in.	12.5 in.
Ketchikan	34.8 in.	6 in.
Arizona
Phoenix	0 in.	0.5 in.
Tucson	0.1 in.	0.5 in.
Mesa	0 in.	0.5 in.
Gilbert	0 in.	0.5 in.
Chandler	0 in.	0.5 in.
Glendale	0.1 in.	0.5 in.
Arkansas
Little Rock	3.5 in.	1 in.
Fayetteville	6.6 in.	2 in.
Fort Smith	2.8 in.	1 in.
Springdale	7.7 in.	2 in.
Jonesboro	3.6 in.	1 in.
Rogers	9 in.	2.5 in.
California
Los Angeles	0 in.	0.5 in.
San Diego	0 in.	0.5 in.
San Jose	0 in.	0.5 in.
San Francisco	0 in.	0.5 in.
Fresno	0 in.	0.5 in.
Sacramento	0 in.	0.5 in.
Colorado
Denver	46.8 in.	7.5 in.
Colorado Springs	43.9 in.	7 in.
Aurora	48.7 in.	7.5 in.
Fort Collins	50.8 in.	8 in.
Lakewood	59.9 in.	9 in.
Thornton	55.3 in.	8.5 in.
Connecticut
Bridgeport	34.8 in.	6 in.
Stamford	34.3 in.	6 in.
New Haven	36.6 in.	6 in.
Hartford	51.3 in.	8 in.
Waterbury	50 in.	7.5 in.
Norwalk	35.4 in.	6 in.
Delaware
Wilmington	19.4 in.	4 in.
Dover	13.3 in.	3 in.
Newark	19.5 in.	4 in.
Middletown	18.1 in.	4 in.
Milford	12.9 in.	3 in.
Smyrna	15 in.	3.5 in.
Washington, D.C.
Washington	12.7 in.	3 in.
Florida
Jacksonville	0 in.	0.5 in.
Miami	0 in.	0.5 in.
Tampa	0 in.	0.5 in.
Orlando	0 in.	0.5 in.
St. Petersburg	0 in.	0.5 in.
Port St. Lucie	0 in.	0.5 in.
Georgia
Atlanta	1.1 in.	0.5 in.
Columbus	0.4 in.	0.5 in.
Augusta	0.8 in.	0.5 in.
Macon	0.2 in.	0.5 in.
Savannah	0 in.	0.5 in.
Athens	0.7 in.	0.5 in.
Hawaii
Honolulu	0 in.	0.5 in.
Idaho
Boise	21.7 in.	4.5 in.
Meridian	18.4 in.	4 in.
Nampa	13.1 in.	3 in.
Caldwell	10.5 in.	2.5 in.
Idaho Falls	43.8 in.	7 in.
Pocatello	40.5 in.	6.5 in.
Illinois
Chicago	38.7 in.	6.5 in.
Aurora	31 in.	5.5 in.
Naperville	28.1 in.	5 in.
Joliet	25.4 in.	5 in.
Rockford	36.4 in.	6 in.
Elgin	37.7 in.	6.5 in.
Indiana
Indianapolis	24.5 in.	4.5 in.
Fort Wayne	33.2 in.	6 in.
Evansville	10.8 in.	2.5 in.
Fishers	21.4 in.	4.5 in.
South Bend	58.9 in.	8.5 in.
Carmel	21.8 in.	4.5 in.
Iowa
Des Moines	34.2 in.	6 in.
Cedar Rapids	32.7 in.	5.5 in.
Davenport	35.1 in.	6 in.
Sioux City	35.6 in.	6 in.
Ankeny	32.7 in.	5.5 in.
Iowa City	27.8 in.	5 in.
Kansas
Wichita	11.9 in.	3 in.
Overland Park	14.2 in.	3 in.
Kansas City	15.8 in.	3.5 in.
Olathe	14.6 in.	3.5 in.
Topeka	15.9 in.	3.5 in.
Lawrence	12.1 in.	3 in.
Kentucky
Louisville	12.3 in.	3 in.
Lexington	13.6 in.	3 in.
Bowling Green	8.2 in.	2 in.
Owensboro	6.7 in.	2 in.
Covington	20.1 in.	4 in.
Georgetown	13.9 in.	3 in.
Louisiana
New Orleans	0 in.	0.5 in.
Baton Rouge	0.1 in.	0.5 in.
Shreveport	0.8 in.	0.5 in.
Lafayette	0 in.	0.5 in.
Lake Charles	0 in.	0.5 in.
Kenner	0 in.	0.5 in.
Maine
Portland	72.9 in.	10 in.
Lewiston	75.2 in.	10.5 in.
Bangor	74.5 in.	10 in.
South Portland	70.1 in.	10 in.
Auburn	75.2 in.	10.5 in.
Sanford	64.2 in.	9 in.
Maryland
Baltimore	20.9 in.	4 in.
Frederick	31 in.	5.5 in.
Gaithersburg	25 in.	5 in.
Rockville	17.6 in.	3.5 in.
Bowie	15.9 in.	3.5 in.
Hagerstown	31.4 in.	5.5 in.
Massachusetts
Boston	59.1 in.	8.5 in.
Worcester	60.8 in.	9 in.
Springfield	46.6 in.	7.5 in.
Cambridge	59 in.	8.5 in.
Lowell	63.2 in.	9 in.
Brockton	56 in.	8.5 in.
Michigan
Detroit	35 in.	6 in.
Grand Rapids	75 in.	10.5 in.
Warren	30.6 in.	5.5 in.
Sterling Heights	32.8 in.	6 in.
Ann Arbor	57.7 in.	8.5 in.
Lansing	42.2 in.	7 in.
Minnesota
Minneapolis	51.1 in.	8 in.
St. Paul	49.4 in.	7.5 in.
Rochester	50.7 in.	8 in.
Bloomington	51.4 in.	8 in.
Duluth	80.8 in.	11 in.
Brooklyn Park	51.9 in.	8 in.
Mississippi
Jackson	1 in.	0.5 in.
Gulfport	0.2 in.	0.5 in.
Southaven	1.9 in.	1 in.
Hattiesburg	0.7 in.	0.5 in.
Biloxi	0.2 in.	0.5 in.
Olive Branch	1.8 in.	1 in.
Missouri
Kansas City	13 in.	3 in.
St. Louis	14.3 in.	3 in.
Springfield	12.5 in.	3 in.
Columbia	16.8 in.	3.5 in.
Independence	11.5 in.	3 in.
Lee's Summit	12.2 in.	3 in.
Montana
Billings	50.5 in.	8 in.
Missoula	44.6 in.	7 in.
Great Falls	65.1 in.	9.5 in.
Bozeman	80.2 in.	11 in.
Butte	37.7 in.	6.5 in.
Helena	37 in.	6.5 in.
Nebraska
Omaha	30 in.	5.5 in.
Lincoln	27.2 in.	5 in.
Bellevue	27.5 in.	5 in.
Grand Island	27.2 in.	5 in.
Kearney	22.8 in.	4.5 in.
Fremont	29.8 in.	5.5 in.
Nevada
Las Vegas	0.2 in.	0.5 in.
Henderson	0.2 in.	0.5 in.
North Las Vegas	0.2 in.	0.5 in.
Reno	25 in.	5 in.
Sparks	25 in.	5 in.
Carson City	25.4 in.	5 in.
New Hampshire
Manchester	57.5 in.	8.5 in.
Nashua	62 in.	9 in.
Concord	66.6 in.	9.5 in.
Dover	56.1 in.	8.5 in.
Rochester	50.6 in.	8 in.
Keene	65.2 in.	9.5 in.
New Jersey
Newark	29 in.	5.5 in.
Jersey City	29.8 in.	5.5 in.
Paterson	29.4 in.	5.5 in.
Elizabeth	29.1 in.	5.5 in.
Trenton	25 in.	5 in.
Clifton	29.4 in.	5.5 in.
New Mexico
Albuquerque	12.6 in.	3 in.
Las Cruces	1 in.	0.5 in.
Rio Rancho	8.4 in.	2 in.
Santa Fe	23.5 in.	4.5 in.
Roswell	8.1 in.	2 in.
Farmington	8.6 in.	2.5 in.
New York
New York	28.5 in.	5 in.
Buffalo	88.6 in.	11.5 in.
Yonkers	30 in.	5.5 in.
Rochester	92.3 in.	12 in.
Syracuse	120.5 in.	14.5 in.
Albany	57 in.	8.5 in.
North Carolina
Charlotte	3.2 in.	1 in.
Raleigh	4.9 in.	1.5 in.
Greensboro	6.3 in.	2 in.
Durham	4.5 in.	1.5 in.
Winston-Salem	6.5 in.	2 in.
Fayetteville	1.3 in.	0.5 in.
North Dakota
Fargo	50.5 in.	8 in.
Bismarck	50 in.	7.5 in.
Grand Forks	48.4 in.	7.5 in.
Minot	48.4 in.	7.5 in.
West Fargo	50.3 in.	8 in.
Williston	44 in.	7 in.
Ohio
Columbus	24 in.	4.5 in.
Cleveland	64.7 in.	9.5 in.
Cincinnati	18.5 in.	4 in.
Toledo	35 in.	6 in.
Akron	46.1 in.	7.5 in.
Dayton	19.8 in.	4 in.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City	6.2 in.	2 in.
Tulsa	8.4 in.	2 in.
Norman	5.2 in.	1.5 in.
Broken Arrow	7.5 in.	2 in.
Edmond	4.8 in.	1.5 in.
Lawton	1.7 in.	0.5 in.
Oregon
Portland	3.6 in.	1 in.
Salem	5.3 in.	1.5 in.
Eugene	2.2 in.	1 in.
Gresham	4.1 in.	1.5 in.
Hillsboro	4 in.	1.5 in.
Bend	20.9 in.	4 in.
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia	18.7 in.	4 in.
Pittsburgh	34.7 in.	6 in.
Allentown	33.5 in.	6 in.
Reading	26.5 in.	5 in.
Erie	108.4 in.	13.5 in.
Bethlehem	34.2 in.	6 in.
Rhode Island
Providence	44.4 in.	7 in.
Cranston	45.2 in.	7 in.
Warwick	35 in.	6 in.
Pawtucket	43.4 in.	7 in.
East Providence	41.4 in.	7 in.
Woonsocket	44.7 in.	7 in.
South Carolina
Charleston	0.3 in.	0.5 in.
Columbia	0.9 in.	0.5 in.
North Charleston	0.3 in.	0.5 in.
Mount Pleasant	0.3 in.	0.5 in.
Rock Hill	1.7 in.	0.5 in.
Greenville	3.1 in.	1 in.
South Dakota
Sioux Falls	45.5 in.	7 in.
Rapid City	48.4 in.	7.5 in.
Aberdeen	42.1 in.	7 in.
Brookings	36.1 in.	6 in.
Watertown	37.4 in.	6.5 in.
Yankton	38.3 in.	6.5 in.
Tennessee
Nashville	3.6 in.	1 in.
Memphis	2.5 in.	1 in.
Knoxville	4.4 in.	1.5 in.
Chattanooga	1.6 in.	0.5 in.
Clarksville	1.3 in.	0.5 in.
Murfreesboro	2.3 in.	1 in.
Texas
Houston	0 in.	0.5 in.
San Antonio	0.2 in.	0.5 in.
Dallas	1.4 in.	0.5 in.
Fort Worth	1.5 in.	0.5 in.
Austin	0.2 in.	0.5 in.
El Paso	2.4 in.	1 in.
Utah
Salt Lake City	60.1 in.	9 in.
West Valley City	48.9 in.	7.5 in.
West Jordan	57.9 in.	8.5 in.
Provo	51.9 in.	8 in.
St. George	1.7 in.	0.5 in.
Orem	45 in.	7 in.
Vermont
Burlington	76.2 in.	10.5 in.
South Burlington	79.6 in.	10.5 in.
Rutland	79.2 in.	10.5 in.
Essex Junction	79.5 in.	10.5 in.
Winooski	76.3 in.	10.5 in.
Barre	95.1 in.	12 in.
Virginia
Virginia Beach	5.2 in.	1.5 in.
Chesapeake	5.3 in.	1.5 in.
Richmond	9.9 in.	2.5 in.
Norfolk	5.1 in.	1.5 in.
Newport News	3.7 in.	1 in.
Alexandria	11.8 in.	3 in.
Washington
Seattle	4.2 in.	1.5 in.
Spokane	45.3 in.	7 in.
Tacoma	4.2 in.	1.5 in.
Vancouver	3.1 in.	1 in.
Bellevue	4.2 in.	1.5 in.
Kent	7.4 in.	2 in.
West Virginia
Charleston	26.1 in.	5 in.
Huntington	11.7 in.	3 in.
Morgantown	19.1 in.	4 in.
Parkersburg	14.1 in.	3 in.
Wheeling	16.1 in.	3.5 in.
Martinsburg	27.3 in.	5 in.
Wisconsin
Milwaukee	47 in.	7.5 in.
Madison	47.3 in.	7.5 in.
Green Bay	56.4 in.	8.5 in.
Kenosha	39.3 in.	6.5 in.
Racine	42.1 in.	7 in.
Appleton	48.8 in.	7.5 in.
Wyoming
Cheyenne	61 in.	9 in.
Casper	74.1 in.	10 in.
Gillette	54.8 in.	8 in.
Laramie	68 in.	9.5 in.
Rock Springs	39.3 in.	6.5 in.
Sheridan	64.4 in.	9 in.

Download “How much snow closes school in 296 U.S. cities” (CSV, opens in Excel)

Built from: U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 (National Centers for Environmental Information); City and Town Population Totals: 2020–2024 (United States Census Bureau).

The whole answer, on one map:

How much snow closes school

• Where you live
  • Rare snow, low bar
  • Snowy places, high bar
  • Weather Service lines differ
• When it falls
  • Overnight counts most
  • Rush hour matters
  • Afternoon snow, early dismissal
• Ice
  • About a tenth of an inch
  • Ice storm warning near 1/4 inch
• The research
  • 10+ inches closed schools
  • 4 to 10 inches kept students home
• Our rule of thumb
  • Built from normal snowfall
  • Half an inch to 15 inches
  • Only districts decide

Questions people ask

Is 2 inches of snow enough for a snow day?

It depends on where you live. By our rule of thumb, 2 inches overnight is past the usual closing point in Atlanta, Dallas, Raleigh and Seattle, and well short of it in Chicago, Boston and Buffalo. In the Weather Service’s terms, 2 inches is warning-level around Atlanta and advisory-level around Washington.

How many inches of snow for a snow day in Michigan?

By our rule of thumb, about 6 inches in Detroit, 7 in Lansing, 8.5 in Ann Arbor and 10.5 in Grand Rapids, which gets about twice Detroit’s snow. In northern Michigan, the Weather Service’s Gaylord office waits for 8 inches in 12 hours, or 10 in 24, before it issues a Winter Storm Warning. Our Michigan page has the rest of the state.

Does a Winter Storm Warning mean school is canceled?

No. A warning means the local Weather Service office expects snow or ice above its own local line. It adds to the chance in our calculator, but each district decides for itself, and warnings can miss: the Baltimore/Washington office says about 1 in 3 of its warnings are false alarms, many of them storms with real snow just under the warning level.

Why do Southern schools close for so little snow?

Because a little snow there is a lot. The Weather Service’s Atlanta-area office calls 2 inches warning-level, and Fairfax County, near Washington, says roads take longer to clear where heavy snow is rare. Ice closes schools at very small amounts too: by our rule of thumb, about a tenth of an inch.

How much snow does it take to close schools in New York City?

By our rule of thumb, about 5 inches. The city also has another option: on January 26, 2026, it closed its school buildings and kept classes going remotely, partly to meet the state’s 180-day requirement.

Sources: National Weather Service, Winter Weather Warnings, Watches and Advisories; Goodman, “Flaking Out: Student Absences and Snow Days as Disruptions of Instructional Time,” NBER Working Paper 20221; NOAA, U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.

Facts checked October 29, 2026.

Updated October 29, 2026