Wisconsin Snow Day Calculator: Chances, Cold Rules and Make-Up Hours

Wisconsin districts write cold into their closing rules. Madison will consider closing at negative 25 degrees, Kenosha weighs a sustained wind chill of −30°F or an air temperature of −20°F, and Appleton looks for a Weather Service Extreme Cold Warning that lasts into the hour before school. Our own cold points, the morning wind chills at which schools start closing for cold by our rule, run from −26°F in Kenosha to −32°F in Appleton.

Snow sets the other line. Milwaukee, Madison and Appleton all average 47 to 49 inches a year, and by our rule of thumb their schools close about half the time once 7.5 inches falls overnight. Green Bay, at 56 inches, needs about 8.5; Kenosha and Racine, at 39 to 42, about 6.5 to 7.

Lost time has to come back. Wisconsin law counts school time in hours: 1,050 a year for grades 1 to 6 and 1,137 for grades 7 to 12. A day closed for weather does not count unless the school teaches online that day.

How much snow closes school in Wisconsin?

By our rule of thumb, about 6.5 inches overnight in Kenosha, 7 in Racine, 7.5 in Milwaukee, Madison and Appleton, and 8.5 in Green Bay. Each is the snowfall at which schools there close about half the time, worked out from the city’s normal yearly snowfall.

Wisconsin'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.

The spread is narrow because the six largest cities get similar snow, 39 to 56 inches a year. What separates them more is cold: Green Bay’s and Appleton’s normal winter lows sit near 13°F and Kenosha’s near 19°F, so their cold points differ by five or six degrees. If your district rarely closes, or closes easily, tell the calculator and it moves both points.

Forecasts here can swing late. Milwaukee Public Schools warns that a shift in a storm’s track “can mean the difference between many inches of snow versus light snow or rain.” That is why the calculator reads the National Weather Service forecast for the part of your ZIP code where most people live, hour by hour, and why it is worth checking again in the morning. Snow overnight or during the bus run counts in full, snow the morning before only about a third, and a Weather Service warning raises the chance more than a watch or advisory.

Where does Wisconsin get the most snow?

In the far north. NOAA has snowfall normals for 161 Wisconsin stations, with a middle value of 47.9 inches a year, and the snowiest are Hurley (155.0 inches), Upson (139.6), Saxon (134.4) and Lac Vieux Desert (125.7), with Bayfield and Mellen also above 100.

Normal snowfall a year and normal December to February low at each of the 161 weather stations in Wisconsin 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 161 stations in Wisconsin

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

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

Even the least snowy stations, in the south and southwest, get about 30 inches or more: Mazomanie averages 30.0, Blanchardville 31.2 and Prairie du Chien 33.8. Wisconsin has no snowless corner.

Do snow days have to be made up in Wisconsin?

Yes, in hours, unless the day was taught online. Section 121.02 of the Wisconsin Statutes requires each school board to schedule at least 437 hours of instruction in kindergarten, 1,050 in grades 1 to 6 and 1,137 in grades 7 to 12, and the state’s rule PI 8.01 says to schedule and hold them. The rule does not count the hours when schools close for bad weather and “no compensatory instruction is offered virtually.”

Falling short is costly: under section 121.006, a district that fails to hold the hours gets no state aid unless the state superintendent accepts an extraordinary cause that the district’s officers did not bring about by intent or neglect. The state sets no number of forgiven days, and we found no minimum number of days at all, only hours. Recess counts toward them, up to 30 minutes a day, but lunch does not, according to the Department of Public Instruction’s questions on days and hours.

So districts plan ahead. A 2023 letter from the Department of Public Instruction notes that districts typically build only a certain number of bad-weather days into their calendars, and lists the ways to make up time: a virtual learning day, minutes added to each school day, or extra days at the end of the year or on planned days off.

Can Wisconsin schools switch to virtual learning instead?

Yes, with no state cap and no state approval. The department’s letter says a district “may offer a virtual learning day to count that as a day of instruction,” and its virtual learning time page leaves the number to each district: the department does not approve or disapprove these plans.

Virtual hours are counted the same way as hours in a school building, and they count when they apply to a whole school or grade level. The department’s planning list asks that staff be directly reachable by students and caregivers, though that is guidance, not a fixed rule. Charter schools are exempt from the hours rule altogether, the department says.

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

It depends on the district, and several put a line in writing. Madison will consider closing at negative 25 degrees, without saying whether that is the air temperature or the wind chill. Kenosha’s policy, revised in December 2024, weighs a sustained wind chill of −30°F or lower, or a sustained air temperature of −20°F or lower.

Appleton decides whether to close when the Weather Service has an Extreme Cold Warning that runs through the hour before the school day begins. As Appleton’s page explains, northeast Wisconsin’s warning comes at −30°F or colder, and a Cold Weather Advisory below −20°F. Milwaukee prints no number but watches the Weather Service’s Cold Weather Advisory and Extreme Cold Watch and Warning.

By our rule of thumb, schools start closing for cold at a morning wind chill of about −26°F in Kenosha, −27°F in Milwaukee and Racine, −31°F in Madison and Green Bay, and −32°F in Appleton: 45 degrees below each city’s normal December-to-February low. The calculator reads the forecast wind chill for 5 to 9 AM, bus-stop time, and gives extra weight to an Extreme Cold Warning, the alert that replaced the Wind Chill Warning in October 2024.

Who decides, and when do Wisconsin families hear?

The school district decides, and several publish their clocks. Green Bay is assessing by 4:45 a.m., with staff or bus drivers out on the roads. Appleton sends emails from 5:00 a.m., texts from 5:30 and phone calls at 5:45, staggered so more than 10,000 calls can go out. Madison decides by 9 p.m. the evening before or by 5:30 a.m., and Milwaukee no later than 6:00 a.m.

Milwaukee closes the night before only when severe weather is already under way or nearly certain. Kenosha asks whether a warning is still in effect at or after 5 a.m., because warnings issued in advance are often canceled when a storm system changes. In Green Bay, parents who keep a child home get an excused absence if they call the school.

Wherever you are, watch your district’s website, app or local TV and radio. The calculator gives odds; the district makes the call.

Will Wisconsin schools close tomorrow?

Your district will tell you. Madison, Appleton and Milwaukee all aim to tell families by 6 a.m. The calculator gives the odds from tomorrow’s forecast, and this map sums up the rest.

Snow days in Wisconsin

• Snow that closes schools
  • Kenosha 6.5 in
  • Milwaukee, Madison 7.5 in
  • Green Bay 8.5 in
• Cold rules
  • Madison −25 degrees
  • Kenosha −30°F wind chill
  • Appleton: Extreme Cold Warning
• The school year
  • Hours only
  • closed days don’t count
  • no state aid if short
• Virtual days
  • Count as instruction
  • no state cap
  • no state approval
• Morning clocks
  • Green Bay 4:45
  • Madison 5:30
  • Milwaukee 6:00

Questions people ask

How cold does it have to be to cancel school in Wisconsin?

There is no state number. Madison considers closing at negative 25 degrees, Kenosha weighs a sustained wind chill of −30°F or air of −20°F, and Appleton watches for an Extreme Cold Warning that lasts into the hour before school.

How much snow does it take to cancel school in Wisconsin?

By our rule of thumb, about 6.5 to 8.5 inches overnight in the state’s largest cities gives schools even odds of closing. Timing matters: snow that falls during the bus run counts more than snow that falls the morning before.

Do Wisconsin schools have to make up snow days?

They have to make up the hours if a closing leaves them short of the state minimum, unless they taught online that day. Districts do it with added minutes, added days or virtual days, and they typically build some bad-weather days into the calendar.

Can a Wisconsin school have a virtual snow day?

Yes. The state lets a district count a virtual learning day as a day of instruction, with no state cap and no state approval; how many to use is up to each district.

Sources: Wisconsin Administrative Code PI 8.01; Department of Public Instruction, letter on inclement weather days (March 2023); Department of Public Instruction, virtual learning time.

Facts checked October 29, 2026.

Updated October 29, 2026