Chatham, Illinois, 4,631 students in 6 schools

Ball-Chatham Community Unit School District 5 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Chatham get?

About 18.6 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 11.8 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.8 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.6 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Ball-Chatham?

8.9 inches on November 29, 2025, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 11.8 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 31.6 inches.

Q: Does Ball-Chatham get more snow days than other Illinois districts?

Ball-Chatham averages 0.6 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 52 percent of the 788 Illinois districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Ball-Chatham snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Chatham 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 Ball-Chatham’s own big snow morning: 3.2 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 11.8 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Ball-Chatham, measured against Ball-Chatham's own big snow morning of 3.2 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Ball-Chatham close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Ball-Chatham’s snow record

18.6inches of snow a winter

1.8school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.6with 4 in or more

3.2 ina big snow morning in Ball-Chatham: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

4.3school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 52% of the 788 Illinois districts with a station record.

2.5Nov

2.7Dec

5.4Jan

5.2Feb

1.9Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8.9 in on November 29, 2025
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 31.6 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 3.3 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 11.8 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 Illinois rule

How Illinois counts a lost day

Illinois requires a calendar of at least 185 days to guarantee 176 days of actual student attendance, each of at least 5 clock hours. The extra calendar days are emergency days used first; after they are gone, the State Superintendent may excuse days lost to an act of God or a hazard beyond the district's control without cutting state aid.

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

Next door

Districts near Ball-Chatham

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Springfield School District 186Springfield	18.6 in	0.6	5
Jacksonville School District 117Jacksonville	15.7 in	0.3
Decatur School District 61Decatur	13.2 in	0.5
Alton Community Unit School District 11Alton	5.1 in	0.3
Edwardsville Community Unit School District 7Edwardsville	13.1 in	0.4
Pekin Public School District108Pekin	25.5 in	0.6

The schools

6 schools

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

High

Glenwood High School

Middle

Glenwood Middle School
Glenwood Intermediate Sch

Elementary

Ball Elementary School
Glenwood Elementary School
Chatham Elem School

Questions

Ball-Chatham snow day questions

How much snow does Chatham get?

What was the biggest snow day near Ball-Chatham?

Does Ball-Chatham get more snow days than other Illinois districts?

How does the Ball-Chatham snow day predictor work?

How does Illinois handle snow days?

More winter

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