Valparaiso, Indiana, 1,467 students in 4 schools

Porter Township School Corporation Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Valparaiso get?

About 23.3 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 10.3 miles away, averaged over 9 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 2.6 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 Porter Township?

9.5 inches on February 16, 2021, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 10.3 miles away in 9 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 42.7 inches.

Q: Does Porter Township get more snow days than other Indiana districts?

Porter Township averages 0.7 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 80 percent of the 283 Indiana districts with a station record.

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

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Valparaiso 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 Porter Township’s own big snow morning: 3.4 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 10.3 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Porter Township, measured against Porter Township's own big snow morning of 3.4 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Porter Township close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Porter Township’s snow record

23.3inches of snow a winter

2.6school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.7with 4 in or more

3.4 ina big snow morning in Porter Township: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

More 4 inch school mornings than 80% of the 283 Indiana districts with a station record.

2.9Nov

3.3Dec

8Jan

8Feb

0.9Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 9.5 in on February 16, 2021
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 42.7 in
6 in mornings 0.2 a winter
1 in mornings 4.7 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 10.3 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 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 Porter Township

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Union Township School CorporationValparaiso	23.3 in	0.7
Boone Township Metropolitan School DistrictHebron	23.3 in	0.7
Valparaiso Community SchoolsValparaiso	22.5 in	0.5
East Porter County School CorporationKouts	22.5 in	0.5
Hobart School CityHobart	28.9 in	0.7
Crown Point Community School CorporationCrown Point	23.3 in	0.7

The schools

4 schools

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

High

Boone Grove High School

Middle

Boone Grove Middle School, Boone Grove

Elementary

Porter Lakes Elementary School, Hebron
Boone Grove Elementary School, Boone Grove

Questions

Porter Township snow day questions

How much snow does Valparaiso get?

What was the biggest snow day near Porter Township?

Does Porter Township get more snow days than other Indiana districts?

How does the Porter Township snow day predictor work?

How does Indiana handle snow days?

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.