Grimes, Iowa, 3,770 students in 7 schools

Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Grimes get?

About 30.8 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 5.9 miles away, averaged over 9 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 3.2 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.4 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Dallas Center-Grimes?

12.9 inches on January 15, 2022, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 5.9 miles away in 9 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 57.9 inches.

Q: Does Dallas Center-Grimes get more snow days than other Iowa districts?

Dallas Center-Grimes averages 1.4 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 71 percent of the 323 Iowa districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Dallas Center-Grimes snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Grimes 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 Dallas Center-Grimes’s own big snow morning: 4.3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 5.9 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Dallas Center-Grimes, measured against Dallas Center-Grimes's own big snow morning of 4.3 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Dallas Center-Grimes close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Dallas Center-Grimes’s snow record

30.8inches of snow a winter

3.2school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.4with 4 in or more

4.3 ina big snow morning in Dallas Center-Grimes: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

More 4 inch school mornings than 71% of the 323 Iowa districts with a station record.

1.2Nov

4.4Dec

11.2Jan

8.3Feb

3.4Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 12.9 in on January 15, 2022
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 57.9 in
6 in mornings 0.7 a winter
1 in mornings 4.8 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 5.9 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 Dallas Center-Grimes

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Urbandale Community School DistrictUrbandale	27.8 in	0.9
Johnston Community School DistrictJohnston	30.8 in	1.4
Waukee Community School DistrictWaukee	27.8 in	0.9
West Des Moines Community School DistrictWest Des Moines	27.8 in	0.9
Ankeny Community School DistrictAnkeny	29.6 in	1
Des Moines Independent Community School DistrictDes Moines	32.2 in	1.6	3

The schools

7 schools

Every school in Dallas Center-Grimes follows the district’s call: one closing covers them all.

High

Dallas Center-Grimes High School

Middle

DC-G Oak View
Dallas Center-Grimes Middle School, Dallas Center

Elementary

Heritage Elementary
South Prairie Elementary
North Ridge Elementary
Dallas Center Elementary, Dallas Center

Questions

Dallas Center-Grimes snow day questions

How much snow does Grimes get?

What was the biggest snow day near Dallas Center-Grimes?

Does Dallas Center-Grimes get more snow days than other Iowa districts?

How does the Dallas Center-Grimes 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.