Chicago Heights, Illinois, 3,104 students in 3 schools

Bloom Township High School District 206 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Chicago Heights get?

About 22.2 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 2.2 miles away, averaged over 8 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 2.5 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.8 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Bloom?

8.5 inches on February 16, 2021, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 2.2 miles away in 8 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 42.4 inches.

Q: Does Bloom get more snow days than other Illinois districts?

Bloom averages 0.8 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 74 percent of the 788 Illinois districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Bloom snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Chicago Heights 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 Bloom’s own big snow morning: 3.1 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 2.2 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Bloom, measured against Bloom's own big snow morning of 3.1 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Bloom close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Bloom’s snow record

22.2inches of snow a winter

2.5school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.8with 4 in or more

3.1 ina big snow morning in Bloom: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

4.5school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 74% of the 788 Illinois districts with a station record.

2.3Nov

2.5Dec

6.4Jan

9.2Feb

1.6Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8.5 in on February 16, 2021
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 42.4 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 4.8 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 2.2 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 Bloom

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Crete-Monee Community Unit School District 201-UCrete	26.3 in	0.7
Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215Lansing	25.8 in	0.9
Thornton Township High School District 205South Holland	25.8 in	0.9
Bremen Community High School District 228Midlothian	25.6 in	0.5
Kirby School District 140Tinley Park	25.6 in	0.5
Consolidated High School District 230Orland Park	25.6 in	0.5

The schools

3 schools

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

High

Bloom High School
Bloom Trail High School
Dist 206 Alternative High School

Questions

Bloom snow day questions

How much snow does Chicago Heights get?

What was the biggest snow day near Bloom?

Does Bloom get more snow days than other Illinois districts?

How does the Bloom 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.