Fowler, Indiana, 1,619 students in 3 schools

Benton Community School Corporation Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Fowler get?

About 0.2 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 16.7 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 0 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Benton?

1.5 inches on January 6, 2024, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 16.7 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2023 to 2024, with 1.5 inches.

Q: How does the Benton snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Fowler through the night and the 5 to 8 am bus run, adds winter alerts and the Winter Storm Severity Index, and weighs them against how Indiana districts handle a bad morning.

Q: How far ahead does the Benton snow day predictor look?

Three school mornings, as far as the National Weather Service hourly forecast reaches. Weekends and breaks are skipped, so a Friday storm is read for Monday’s buses.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Benton, read from the National Weather Service forecast for Fowler.

The next three school mornings

Will Benton close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Benton’s snow record

0.2inches of snow a winter

0school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0with 4 in or more

0Nov

0Dec

0.2Jan

0Feb

0Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 1.5 in on January 6, 2024
Snowiest winter 2023 to 2024, 1.5 in
6 in mornings 0 a winter
1 in mornings 0 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 16.7 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 Indiana rule

How Indiana counts a lost day

Indiana requires at least 180 student instructional days a school year.

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

Next door

Districts near Benton

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Warren County Metropolitan School DistrictWilliamsport	12.6 in	0.2
North Newton School CorporationMorocco	25 in	0.6
Rensselaer Central School CorporationRensselaer	17.7 in	0.4
Tippecanoe School CorporationLafayette	15.3 in	0.3	1
Lafayette School CorporationLafayette	15.3 in	0.3	1
Twin Lakes School CorporationMonticello	16.4 in	0.5

The schools

3 schools

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

High

Benton Central Jr-Sr High School, Oxford

Elementary

Prairie Crossing Elementary School, Oxford
Otterbein Elementary School, Otterbein

Questions

Benton snow day questions

How much snow does Fowler get?

What was the biggest snow day near Benton?

How does the Benton snow day predictor work?

How does Indiana handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Benton snow day predictor look?

More winter

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