Rifle, Colorado, 4,786 students in 10 schools

Garfield School District RE-2 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Rifle get?

About 24.6 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 3.3 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 2.6 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.4 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Garfield RE-2?

10.9 inches on February 13, 2018, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 3.3 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2022 to 2023, with 38.8 inches.

Q: How does the Garfield RE-2 snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Rifle through the night and the 5 to 8 am bus run, adds winter alerts and the Winter Storm Severity Index, and measures the snow against Garfield RE-2’s own big snow morning: 2.3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 3.3 miles away.

Q: How far ahead does the Garfield RE-2 snow day predictor look?

Three school mornings, as far as the National Weather Service hourly forecast reaches. Weekends and breaks are skipped, so a Friday storm is read for Monday’s buses.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Garfield RE-2, measured against Garfield RE-2's own big snow morning of 2.3 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Garfield RE-2 close tomorrow?

Reading the National Weather Service forecast for the overnight and the bus hours in Rifle.

Ten winters of school mornings

Garfield RE-2’s snow record

24.6inches of snow a winter

2.6school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.4with 4 in or more

2.3 ina big snow morning in Garfield RE-2: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

4.6school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

1.5Nov

6.5Dec

6.5Jan

6.4Feb

2.3Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 10.9 in on February 13, 2018
Snowiest winter 2022 to 2023, 38.8 in
6 in mornings 0.2 a winter
1 in mornings 6.1 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 3.3 miles away. Mornings are the 7 am snow reading on a weekday from December 1 through March 31, over the ten winters from 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026, from NOAA GHCN Daily.

The Colorado rule

How Colorado counts a lost day

Colorado requires at least 160 days, with 1,080 scheduled hours in secondary school and 990 in elementary. The scheduled hours can drop to 1,056 (secondary), 968 (elementary), 870 (full-day kindergarten) or 435 (half-day kindergarten) to cover conferences, staff training and closings the board judges necessary for student health, safety or welfare.

The Colorado rules in the agency’s own words, and every Colorado district

Next door

Districts near Garfield RE-2

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Roaring Fork School District RE-1Carbondale	45.2 in	1
Mesa County Valley School District 51Grand Junction	7.8 in	0
Eagle County School District RE 50Eagle	90.9 in	2.9
Delta County School District 50JDelta	8.1 in	0.1
Montrose County School District RE-1JMontrose	23.1 in	0.7
Summit School District RE-1Frisco	120.3 in	3

The schools

10 schools

Every school in Garfield RE-2 follows the district’s call: one closing covers them all.

High

Rifle High School
Coal Ridge High School, New Castle

Middle

Rifle Middle School
Riverside School, New Castle

Elementary

Cactus Valley Elementary School, Silt
Graham Mesa Elementary School
Highland Elementary School
Wamsley Elementary School
Kathryn Senor Elementary School, New Castle
Elk Creek Elementary, New Castle

Questions

Garfield RE-2 snow day questions

How much snow does Rifle get?

What was the biggest snow day near Garfield RE-2?

How does the Garfield RE-2 snow day predictor work?

How does Colorado handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Garfield RE-2 snow day predictor look?

More winter

More for Colorado snow days

Snow day predictorClosing and delay odds for any ZIP, with the snowiest districts in the country.Snow depth mapHow much snow is on the ground right now, measured, across the country.First snow datesWhen the first measurable snow usually lands where you live.Frozen pipesThe nights cold enough to freeze a pipe, and what to do before one.Snow plow trackerWhere the plows are during a storm, city by city.Colorado winter forecastThe season ahead for Colorado: snowfall, cold and the first snow.

A residential street under deep snow on a bright blue morning, cars parked along the curb buried into smooth white mounds, one set of tire tracks down the middle — The morning after a big one: cars buried to the mirrors and one set of tracks down the middle. A street like this is a closing, no debate. Photo, Fairfax, Virginia, January 2016: Jarek Tuszyński, CC BY 4.0

The odds are a forecast read, and the superintendent makes the call: the district’s own announcement is the one to follow.