Council Bluffs Community School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: Does Council Bluffs switch to remote learning on a snow day?

It can. Council Bluffs has remote learning days in its winter plan, up to 4 a year. When a closing gets likely, the morning here reads "Snow day or remote day".

Q: When is the last day of school for Council Bluffs?

May 27, 2027, on the district’s 2026 to 2027 calendar.

Q: How much snow does Council Bluffs get?

About 17.1 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 3.5 miles away, averaged over 8 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.3 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.8 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Council Bluffs?

9 inches on January 26, 2021, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 3.5 miles away in 8 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 41.4 inches.

Q: How does the Council Bluffs snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Council Bluffs 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 Council Bluffs’s own big snow morning: 2 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 3.5 miles away.

The next three school mornings

Will Council Bluffs close tomorrow?

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

The Council Bluffs playbook

How Council Bluffs calls a snow day

Remote learning days

Council Bluffs has remote learning days in its winter plan, up to 4 a year.

“Up to four (4) remote learning days may occur for students if school is canceled for inclement weather or other related reasons.”

Source

Making up a lost day

After the remote days, make-up days may be added at the end of second semester.

“Additional days may be added at the end of second semester, as necessary, for make-up days.”

Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

First day August 24, 2026
Winter break Dec 21 to Jan 4
Last day May 27, 2027

District calendar

Read from Council Bluffs’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is cb-schools.org.

Ten winters of school mornings

Council Bluffs’s snow record

17.1inches of snow a winter

1.3school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.8with 4 in or more

2 ina big snow morning in Council Bluffs: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

0.8Nov

2.6Dec

5.2Jan

5.2Feb

1.7Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 9 in on January 26, 2021
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 41.4 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 3.8 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 3.5 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.

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 Council Bluffs

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Lewis Central Community School DistrictCouncil Bluffs	17.1 in	0.8
Sioux City Community School DistrictSioux City	24.1 in	1.2
Waukee Community School DistrictWaukee	27.8 in	0.9
Dallas Center-Grimes Community School DistrictGrimes	30.8 in	1.4
West Des Moines Community School DistrictWest Des Moines	27.8 in	0.9
Urbandale Community School DistrictUrbandale	27.8 in	0.9

The schools

15 schools

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

High

Abraham Lincoln High School
Thomas Jefferson High School

Middle

Gerald W Kirn Middle School
Woodrow Wilson Middle School

Elementary

College View Elementary
Longfellow Elementary School
Franklin Elementary School
Roosevelt Elementary School
Bloomer Elementary School
Hoover Elementary School
Edison Elementary School
Rue Elementary School
Carter Lake Elementary School, Carter Lake
Lewis & Clark Elementary School

Other schools

Anne E. Nelson Early Learning Center

Questions

Council Bluffs snow day questions

Does Council Bluffs switch to remote learning on a snow day?

When is the last day of school for Council Bluffs?

How much snow does Council Bluffs get?

What was the biggest snow day near Council Bluffs?

How does the Council Bluffs 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.