Rupert, Idaho, 4,394 students in 11 schools

Minidoka County Joint School District 331 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Rupert get?

About 33 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 9.4 miles away, averaged over 8 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 4.1 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 Minidoka?

8 inches on April 5, 2023, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 9.4 miles away in 8 winters. The snowiest winter was 2016 to 2017, with 57.5 inches.

Q: How does the Minidoka snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Rupert 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 Minidoka’s own big snow morning: 2.5 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 9.4 miles away.

Q: How far ahead does the Minidoka 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 Minidoka, measured against Minidoka's own big snow morning of 2.5 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Minidoka close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Minidoka’s snow record

33inches of snow a winter

4.1school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.4with 4 in or more

2.5 ina big snow morning in Minidoka: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

2.4school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

2.7Nov

8.2Dec

9.9Jan

5.4Feb

4.4Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8 in on April 5, 2023
Snowiest winter 2016 to 2017, 57.5 in
6 in mornings 0.4 a winter
1 in mornings 9.5 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 9.4 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 Minidoka

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Cassia County Joint School District 151Burley	33 in	0.4
Twin Falls School District 411Twin Falls
Pocatello School District 25Pocatello	38 in	1.2
Blaine County School District 61Hailey	74.3 in	3.5
Snake River School District 52Blackfoot	27.5 in	0.4
Blackfoot School District 55Blackfoot	27.5 in	0.4

The schools

11 schools

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

High

Minico Senior High School
Mt Harrison High School, Heyburn

Middle

East Minico Middle School
West Minico Middle School, Paul
Minidoka Junior High Alternative, Boise

Elementary

Rupert Elementary School
Heyburn Elementary School, Heyburn
Paul Elementary School, Paul
Acequia Elementary School

Other schools

Preschool Center
Mini-Cassia Juvenile Detention Center

Questions

Minidoka snow day questions

How much snow does Rupert get?

What was the biggest snow day near Minidoka?

How does the Minidoka snow day predictor work?

How does Idaho handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Minidoka 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.