Freeport, Illinois, 3,638 students in 8 schools

Freeport School District 145 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Freeport get?

About 30.6 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1.2 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 3.4 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.2 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Freeport?

7.5 inches on December 30, 2020, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1.2 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 47.3 inches.

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

Freeport averages 1.2 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 95 percent of the 788 Illinois districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Freeport snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Freeport 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 Freeport’s own big snow morning: 4 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1.2 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Freeport, measured against Freeport's own big snow morning of 4 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Freeport close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Freeport’s snow record

30.6inches of snow a winter

3.4school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.2with 4 in or more

4 ina big snow morning in Freeport: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

9.7school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 95% of the 788 Illinois districts with a station record.

2.6Nov

5.6Dec

9.2Jan

6.9Feb

4Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 7.5 in on December 30, 2020
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 47.3 in
6 in mornings 0.3 a winter
1 in mornings 6 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1.2 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 Freeport

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Rockford School District 205Rockford	31.8 in	0.7	5
Harlem Unit School District 122Machesney Park	38.1 in	1.6
Sterling Community Unit District 5Sterling	26.3 in	0.9
Belvidere Consolidated Unit School District 100Belvidere	28.3 in	0.6
DeKalb Community Unit School District 428Dekalb	25 in	0.5
Sycamore Community Unit School District 427Sycamore	26 in	0.1

The schools

8 schools

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

High

Freeport High School

Middle

Freeport Middle School
Carl Sandburg Middle Sch

Elementary

Empire Elem School
Jones-Farrar Intl Baccalaureate
Lincoln-Douglas Elementary School
Blackhawk Elem School
Center Elem School

Questions

Freeport snow day questions

How much snow does Freeport get?

What was the biggest snow day near Freeport?

Does Freeport get more snow days than other Illinois districts?

How does the Freeport 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.