US schools, for fun
Snow day calculator
A just-for-fun snow day score for your town, worked out from the real forecast: overnight snow, the morning commute and the cold, turned into a band and an opinion. Your school still decides.
Last updated
Check your town
In the UK? UK school closures work differently, so I'm not scoring them. This calculator is US only for now.
The five bands
No percentages: the score is a guess, so it only ever lands in a band. What it says in each one, at the Wuss and Spicy settings:
Not a chance
Dry as a spelling test. School is happening.
Not a damn flake in sight. School is on.
Keep your hopes low
A dusting, maybe. I'd still pack the homework.
A few flakes and a lot of wishful thinking. Damn.
Coin toss
Could go either way. I'd leave the homework half done.
Proper maybe territory. Somebody at the district office is having a hell of a night.
Pyjamas inside out territory
That's a lot of snow for one night. I'd not set an alarm just yet.
That's a damn good pile of snow for a school night.
Start celebrating
That much snow? I'd be planning the sledding route.
Snow day energy, hell yes. I wouldn't bother with the alarm.
How this works
It reads the live OpenWeatherMap forecast for your spot and adds up the snow due between 6pm and 8am, with extra weight on anything falling in the 5am to 9am commute. A low at or below freezing with any rain or snow adds an ice bump, and strong wind adds a little for drifting. Then comes a regional guess: about 1 inch makes it a coin toss in the states that rarely see snow, 3 inches in the middle of the country and 6 inches in the snowiest states. It’s WWA’s own for-fun guess, not data, and your school district decides.
When the National Weather Service has a winter storm, blizzard or ice storm warning in force, or the forecast turns severe, there is no score and no joke: just the warning and a link to weather.gov.
Questions
Is there a snow day calculator for tomorrow?
Yes, this one. Search for your town or use your location, and it scores the next school morning from the next 36 hours of real forecast; after midnight it means the morning ahead. It’s a for-fun guess with an opinion attached, not a closure notice.
How much snow for a snow day?
There’s no single number, and nobody can promise one. This calculator guesses about 1 inch overnight for a coin toss in the states that rarely see snow, 3 inches in the middle of the country and 6 inches in the snowiest states. Ice and strong wind push it up. Your district makes the call.
City forecasts
Want the long view? Winter weather predictions covers what actually tips a winter colder or milder.
The rest of the forecast, with the same attitude.
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