Valparaiso, Indiana, 6,441 students in 11 schools

Valparaiso Community Schools Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Valparaiso get?

About 22.5 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 8.2 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 2.8 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.5 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Valparaiso?

8 inches on December 18, 2016, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 8.2 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2017 to 2018, with 41.3 inches.

Q: How does the Valparaiso 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 Valparaiso’s own big snow morning: 2.9 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 8.2 miles away.

Q: How far ahead does the Valparaiso 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 Valparaiso, measured against Valparaiso's own big snow morning of 2.9 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Valparaiso close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Valparaiso’s snow record

22.5inches of snow a winter

2.8school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.5with 4 in or more

2.9 ina big snow morning in Valparaiso: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

5.9school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

1.3Nov

4.1Dec

7.9Jan

7Feb

1.4Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8 in on December 18, 2016
Snowiest winter 2017 to 2018, 41.3 in
6 in mornings 0.2 a winter
1 in mornings 4.9 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 8.2 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 Valparaiso

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Union Township School CorporationValparaiso	23.3 in	0.7
Portage Township SchoolsPortage	28.9 in	0.7
Duneland School CorporationChesterton	28.9 in	0.7
Porter Township School CorporationValparaiso	23.3 in	0.7
Hobart School CityHobart	28.9 in	0.7
Lake Station Community SchoolsLake Station	28.9 in	0.7

The schools

11 schools

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

High

Valparaiso High School

Middle

Benjamin Franklin Middle School
Thomas Jefferson Middle School

Elementary

Cooks Corners Elementary School
Heavilin Elementary School
Flint Lake Elementary School
Memorial Elementary School
Thomas Jefferson Elementary School
Northview Elementary School
Parkview Elementary School
Central Elementary School

Questions

Valparaiso snow day questions

How much snow does Valparaiso get?

What was the biggest snow day near Valparaiso?

How does the Valparaiso snow day predictor work?

How does Indiana handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Valparaiso 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.