Hailey, Idaho, 3,234 students in 8 schools

Blaine County School District 61 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Hailey get?

About 74.3 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 4.6 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 8 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 3.5 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Blaine?

15 inches on January 10, 2017, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 4.6 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2022 to 2023, with 128.3 inches.

Q: Does Blaine get more snow days than other Idaho districts?

Blaine averages 3.5 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 86 percent of the 87 Idaho districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Blaine snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Hailey 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 Blaine’s own big snow morning: 5 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 4.6 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Blaine, measured against Blaine's own big snow morning of 5 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Blaine close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Blaine’s snow record

74.3inches of snow a winter

8school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

3.5with 4 in or more

5 ina big snow morning in Blaine: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

2.2school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 86% of the 87 Idaho districts with a station record.

6.3Nov

19.3Dec

19.6Jan

16.3Feb

9.3Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 15 in on January 10, 2017
Snowiest winter 2022 to 2023, 128.3 in
6 in mornings 1.5 a winter
1 in mornings 12.2 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 4.6 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 Idaho rule

How Idaho counts a lost day

Idaho requires at least 990 instructional hours for grades 9 to 12, 900 for grades 4 to 8, 810 for grades 1 to 3 and 450 for kindergarten. With local board approval, up to 11 hours of emergency closures for bad weather or facility failures can come off the yearly hours requirement.

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

Next door

Districts near Blaine

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Twin Falls School District 411Twin Falls
Minidoka County Joint School District 331Rupert	33 in	0.4
Cassia County Joint School District 151Burley	33 in	0.4
Snake River School District 52Blackfoot	27.5 in	0.4
Boise City Independent School District 1Boise	18.3 in	0.2
Blackfoot School District 55Blackfoot	27.5 in	0.4

The schools

8 schools

Every school in Blaine follows the district’s call: one closing covers them all.

High

Wood River High School
Silver Creek High School

Middle

Wood River Middle School

Elementary

Ernest Hemingway Steam School, Ketchum
Alturas Elementary School
Hailey Elementary School
Bellevue Elementary School, Bellevue

Other schools

Carey Public School, Carey

Questions

Blaine snow day questions

How much snow does Hailey get?

What was the biggest snow day near Blaine?

Does Blaine get more snow days than other Idaho districts?

How does the Blaine snow day predictor work?

How does Idaho handle snow days?

More winter

More for Idaho 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.Idaho winter forecastThe season ahead for Idaho: 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.