Saint Charles, Illinois, 11,699 students in 18 schools

St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Saint Charles get?

About 35.4 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1.3 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 3.7 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.1 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near St. Charles?

9.8 inches on November 26, 2018, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1.3 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 62.4 inches.

Q: Does St. Charles get more snow days than other Illinois districts?

St. Charles averages 1.1 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 92 percent of the 788 Illinois districts with a station record.

Q: How does the St. Charles snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Saint Charles 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 St. Charles’s own big snow morning: 3.2 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1.3 miles away.

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

The next three school mornings

Will St. Charles close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

St. Charles’s snow record

35.4inches of snow a winter

3.7school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.1with 4 in or more

3.2 ina big snow morning in St. Charles: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

More 4 inch school mornings than 92% of the 788 Illinois districts with a station record.

4.5Nov

5.5Dec

11.5Jan

8.1Feb

3Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 9.8 in on November 26, 2018
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 62.4 in
6 in mornings 0.4 a winter
1 in mornings 5.9 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1.3 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 St. Charles

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Geneva Community Unit School District 304Geneva	25.9 in	0.1
Batavia Unit School District 101Batavia	30.7 in	0.5
West Chicago School District 33West Chicago	32.3 in	0.9
School District U-46Elgin	27.1 in	0.7	5
Community Consolidated School District 93Bloomingdale	32.3 in	0.9
Aurora West Unit School District 129Aurora	25.6 in	0.8

The schools

18 schools

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

High

St Charles East High School
St Charles North High School
Compass Academy, St Charles
Kane Co Detention Center

Middle

Wredling Middle School
Thompson Middle School

Elementary

Ferson Creek School
Wild Rose Elem School
Munhall Elem School
Corron Elementary School, South Elgin
Norton Creek Elementary School, West Chicago
Bell-Graham Elementary School
Anderson Elem School
Wasco Elem School, Wasco
Davis Primary School
Richmond Intermediate Sch
Lincoln Elem School

Other schools

Fox Ridge School

Questions

St. Charles snow day questions

How much snow does Saint Charles get?

What was the biggest snow day near St. Charles?

Does St. Charles get more snow days than other Illinois districts?

How does the St. Charles 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.