LaGrange, Indiana, 1,328 students in 3 schools

Prairie Heights Community School Corporation Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does LaGrange get?

About 28.7 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 9.6 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 2.4 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.6 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Prairie Heights?

7 inches on February 16, 2021, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 9.6 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 37.7 inches.

Q: Does Prairie Heights get more snow days than other Indiana districts?

Prairie Heights averages 0.6 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 63 percent of the 283 Indiana districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Prairie Heights snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for LaGrange 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 Prairie Heights’s own big snow morning: 2.2 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 9.6 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Prairie Heights, measured against Prairie Heights's own big snow morning of 2.2 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Prairie Heights close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Prairie Heights’s snow record

28.7inches of snow a winter

2.4school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.6with 4 in or more

2.2 ina big snow morning in Prairie Heights: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

4.2school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 63% of the 283 Indiana districts with a station record.

3.4Nov

5.4Dec

9Jan

8.1Feb

2Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 7 in on February 16, 2021
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 37.7 in
6 in mornings 0.3 a winter
1 in mornings 5.8 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 9.6 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 Prairie Heights

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Steuben County Metropolitan School DistrictAngola	28.7 in	0.6
Lakeland School CorporationLaGrange	28.7 in	0.6
East Noble School CorporationKendallville	26 in	0.7
Westview School CorporationTopeka	30.2 in	0.6
DeKalb County Central United School DistrictWaterloo	28.7 in	0.5
Central Noble Community School CorporationAlbion	31.3 in	0.4

The schools

3 schools

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

High

Prairie Heights Sr High School

Middle

Prairie Heights Middle School

Elementary

Prairie Heights Elementary School

Questions

Prairie Heights snow day questions

How much snow does LaGrange get?

What was the biggest snow day near Prairie Heights?

Does Prairie Heights get more snow days than other Indiana districts?

How does the Prairie Heights 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.