New Palestine, Indiana, 3,906 students in 6 schools
Southern Hancock County Community School Corporation Snow Day Predictor
The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Southern Hancock, measured against Southern Hancock's own big snow morning of 2.5 inches.
The next three school mornings
Will Southern Hancock close tomorrow?
Reading the National Weather Service forecast for the overnight and the bus hours in New Palestine.
Ten winters of school mornings
Southern Hancock’s snow record
14.4inches of snow a winter
1.2school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more
0.4with 4 in or more
2.5 ina big snow morning in Southern Hancock: the top tenth of snowy school mornings
3.2school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder
1.2Nov
3Dec
4.9Jan
3.7Feb
1.2Mar
Average snowfall by month, inches
Biggest day 7.8 in on January 25, 2026
Snowiest winter 2025 to 2026, 27.8 in
6 in mornings 0.2 a winter
1 in mornings 2.5 a winter
Measured at a NOAA weather station 8.5 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.
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The Indiana rule
How Indiana counts a lost day
Indiana requires at least 180 student instructional days a school year.
Every school in Southern Hancock follows the district’s call: one closing covers them all.
High
New Palestine High School
Middle
New Palestine Jr High School
New Palestine Intermediate School
Elementary
Sugar Creek Elementary Sch
New Palestine Elementary School
Brandywine Elementary School, Greenfield
Questions
Southern Hancock snow day questions
About 14.4 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 8.5 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.2 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.4 with 4 inches or more.
7.8 inches on January 25, 2026, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 8.5 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2025 to 2026, with 27.8 inches.
It reads the National Weather Service forecast for New Palestine 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 Southern Hancock’s own big snow morning: 2.5 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 8.5 miles away.
Indiana requires at least 180 student instructional days a school year.
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 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.
