Rathdrum, Idaho, 4,527 students in 12 schools

Lakeland Joint School District 272 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Rathdrum get?

About 22.8 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 10 miles away, averaged over 7 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 3.3 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.9 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Lakeland?

10 inches on February 4, 2017, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 10 miles away in 7 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 51.8 inches.

Q: How does the Lakeland snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Rathdrum 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 Lakeland’s own big snow morning: 3.8 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 10 miles away.

Q: How far ahead does the Lakeland 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 Lakeland, measured against Lakeland's own big snow morning of 3.8 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Lakeland close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Lakeland’s snow record

22.8inches of snow a winter

3.3school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.9with 4 in or more

3.8 ina big snow morning in Lakeland: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

0.6school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

0.3Nov

5.6Dec

5.1Jan

9.5Feb

1.5Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 10 in on February 4, 2017
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 51.8 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 5.9 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 10 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 Lakeland

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Post Falls School District 273Post Falls	22.8 in	0.9
Coeur d'Alene School District 271Coeur D'alene	22.8 in	0.9	2
Lake Pend Oreille School District 84Ponderay	73.7 in	3.3
Lewiston Independent School District 340Lewiston	17.1 in	0.8
Middleton School District 134Middleton	14.8 in	0.4
Caldwell School District 132Caldwell	14.1 in	0.9

The schools

12 schools

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

High

Lakeland Senior High School
Timberlake Senior High School, Spirit Lake
Mountainview Alternative High School

Middle

Lakeland Middle School
Timberlake Middle School, Spirit Lake

Elementary

Garwood Elementary School
Betty Kiefer Elementary School
John Brown Elementary School
Athol Elementary School, Athol
Spirit Lake Elementary School, Spirit Lake
Twin Lakes Elementary School
Lakeland Online Academy

Questions

Lakeland snow day questions

How much snow does Rathdrum get?

What was the biggest snow day near Lakeland?

How does the Lakeland snow day predictor work?

How does Idaho handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Lakeland snow day predictor look?

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.