Skokie, Illinois, 4,630 students in 4 schools

Niles Township Community High School District 219 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Skokie get?

About 29.5 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 3.8 miles away, averaged over 9 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 2.8 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.7 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Niles Township?

13.6 inches on February 16, 2021, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 3.8 miles away in 9 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 54.6 inches.

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

Niles Township averages 0.7 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 65 percent of the 788 Illinois districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Niles Township snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Skokie 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 Niles Township’s own big snow morning: 3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 3.8 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Niles Township, measured against Niles Township's own big snow morning of 3 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Niles Township close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Niles Township’s snow record

29.5inches of snow a winter

2.8school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.7with 4 in or more

3 ina big snow morning in Niles Township: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

More 4 inch school mornings than 65% of the 788 Illinois districts with a station record.

2.9Nov

2.8Dec

10.6Jan

10.3Feb

1.5Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 13.6 in on February 16, 2021
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 54.6 in
6 in mornings 0.2 a winter
1 in mornings 5.7 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 3.8 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 Niles Township

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Park Ridge Consolidated Community School District 64Niles	29.5 in	0.7
Evanston Community Consolidated School District 65Evanston	29.5 in	0.7
Wilmette School District 39Wilmette	29.5 in	0.7
Evanston Township High School District 202Evanston	29.5 in	0.7
Maine Township High School District 207Park Ridge	29.5 in	0.7
New Trier Township High School District 203Northfield	26.1 in	0.6

The schools

4 schools

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

High

Niles West High School
Niles North High School
Bridges Adult Transition Center, Lincolnwood
Niles Central

Questions

Niles Township snow day questions

How much snow does Skokie get?

What was the biggest snow day near Niles Township?

Does Niles Township get more snow days than other Illinois districts?

How does the Niles Township 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.