Bluffton, Indiana, 1,782 students in 3 schools

Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Bluffton get?

About 11.6 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 10.9 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 0.9 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.1 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan?

5 inches on January 13, 2019, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 10.9 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2017 to 2018, with 18.8 inches.

Q: How does the Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Bluffton 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 Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan’s own big snow morning: 2 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 10.9 miles away.

Q: How far ahead does the Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan 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 Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan, measured against Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan's own big snow morning of 2 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan’s snow record

11.6inches of snow a winter

0.9school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.1with 4 in or more

2 ina big snow morning in Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

1.6Nov

1.5Dec

3.3Jan

3.6Feb

0.8Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 5 in on January 13, 2019
Snowiest winter 2017 to 2018, 18.8 in
6 in mornings 0 a winter
1 in mornings 2.6 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 10.9 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 Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Northern Wells Community SchoolsOssian	11.6 in	0.1
Adams Central Community SchoolsMonroe	17.4 in	0.6
South Adams SchoolsBerne	17.4 in	0.6
Huntington County Community School CorporationWarren	16.9 in	0.5
North Adams Community SchoolsDecatur	18.7 in	0.4
Eastbrook Community School CorporationMarion	19 in	0.5

The schools

3 schools

Every school in Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan follows the district’s call: one closing covers them all.

High

Bluffton High School

Middle

Bluffton-Harrison Middle School

Elementary

Bluffton-Harrison Elementary Sch

Questions

Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan snow day questions

How much snow does Bluffton get?

What was the biggest snow day near Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan?

How does the Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan snow day predictor work?

How does Indiana handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan 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.