Ames, Iowa, 4,735 students in 8 schools

Ames Community School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Ames get?

About 28.3 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1 mile away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 3.1 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.3 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Ames?

8.5 inches on January 15, 2022, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1 mile away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 43.4 inches.

Q: Does Ames get more snow days than other Iowa districts?

Ames averages 1.3 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 66 percent of the 323 Iowa districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Ames snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Ames 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 Ames’s own big snow morning: 4 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1 mile away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Ames, measured against Ames's own big snow morning of 4 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Ames close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Ames’s snow record

28.3inches of snow a winter

3.1school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.3with 4 in or more

4 ina big snow morning in Ames: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

More 4 inch school mornings than 66% of the 323 Iowa districts with a station record.

2Nov

5.1Dec

8.6Jan

7.7Feb

3.6Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8.5 in on January 15, 2022
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 43.4 in
6 in mornings 0.4 a winter
1 in mornings 4.7 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1 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.

The Iowa rule

How Iowa counts a lost day

Iowa requires at least 180 days or 1,080 hours of instruction, as the board chooses. When a board extends the calendar to make up weather closures, it may excuse seniors who have already met graduation requirements.

The Iowa rules in the agency’s own words, and every Iowa district

Next door

Districts near Ames

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Ankeny Community School DistrictAnkeny	29.6 in	1
Johnston Community School DistrictJohnston	30.8 in	1.4
Dallas Center-Grimes Community School DistrictGrimes	30.8 in	1.4
Urbandale Community School DistrictUrbandale	27.8 in	0.9
Southeast Polk Community School DistrictAltoona	29.6 in	1
Waukee Community School DistrictWaukee	27.8 in	0.9

The schools

8 schools

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

High

Ames High School

Middle

Ames Middle School

Elementary

Fellows Elementary School
Edwards Elementary School
Sawyer Elementary School
Meeker Elementary School
Mitchell Elementary School

Other schools

Northwood Pre-School

Questions

Ames snow day questions

How much snow does Ames get?

What was the biggest snow day near Ames?

Does Ames get more snow days than other Iowa districts?

How does the Ames snow day predictor work?

How does Iowa handle snow days?

More winter

More for Iowa 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.Iowa winter forecastThe season ahead for Iowa: 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.