The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Spencer-Owen, measured against Spencer-Owen's own big snow morning of 2.2 inches.
The next three school mornings
Will Spencer-Owen close tomorrow?
Reading the National Weather Service forecast for the overnight and the bus hours in Spencer.
Ten winters of school mornings
Spencer-Owen’s snow record
10.3inches of snow a winter
1school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more
0.5with 4 in or more
2.2 ina big snow morning in Spencer-Owen: the top tenth of snowy school mornings
2.8school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder
0.5Nov
1.2Dec
3.8Jan
3.8Feb
0.8Mar
Average snowfall by month, inches
Biggest day 9 in on February 16, 2021
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 23.1 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 2.8 a winter
Measured at a NOAA weather station under a mile 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 Spencer-Owen follows the district’s call: one closing covers them all.
High
Owen Valley Community High School
Middle
Owen Valley Middle School
Elementary
Spencer Elementary School
McCormick's Creek Elementary Sch
Gosport Elementary School, Gosport
Patricksburg Elementary School, Patricksburg
Questions
Spencer-Owen snow day questions
About 10.3 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station under a mile away, averaged over 8 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.5 with 4 inches or more.
9 inches on February 16, 2021, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station under a mile away in 8 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 23.1 inches.
It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Spencer 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 Spencer-Owen’s own big snow morning: 2.2 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station under a mile 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.
