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Des Moines, Iowa, 30,277 students in 59 schools

Des Moines Independent Community School District Snow Day Predictor

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Des Moines, measured against Des Moines's own big snow morning of 4.1 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Des Moines close tomorrow?

Reading the National Weather Service forecast for the overnight and the bus hours in Des Moines.
The Des Moines playbook

How Des Moines calls a snow day

How families hear

By local TV, the district website, social media and the district app.

“Announcements will be made through the local news media, the school district’s web site, the school district’s Facebook and Twitter pages, and Infinite Campus, and ParentSquare.”
Emergency and Weather Notifications - Des Moines Public Schools

A 2 hour delay

On a delay morning every school starts 2 hours late.

“All schools will begin classes two hours later and dismiss at the regular time.”
Delay schedule

3 built in snow days

On the 2026 to 2027 calendar, listed as “Reserved for weather make-up”.

“7-9 Reserved for weather make-up”
Source

Making up a lost day

Weather days are made up on the reserved days in June after the last day of school.

Make up dates: Jun 7, Jun 8, Jun 9.

“7-9 Reserved for weather make-up”
Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

  • First day August 24, 2026
  • Winter break Dec 21 to Jan 1
  • Last day June 3, 2027
District calendar

Recent snow days

  • 2024 to 2025. Classes canceled and offices closed for a blizzard warning on March 5, 2025, plus a snow closing on February 12 and several two-hour late starts for cold.
    “March 5, 2025: Classes Canceled/Offices Closed. Blizzard Warning in effect throughout the day.”
    District notice
  • 2023 to 2024. Closed January 9 and January 12, 2024 for heavy snow and a blizzard warning.
    “January 12, 2024: Classes Canceled/Offices Closed. The school district closed due to a Blizzard Warning with heavy snow and strong winds.”
    District notice
  • 2022 to 2023. Closed February 16, 2023 for snow and wind.
    “February 16, 2023: Schools Closed. Classes and activities canceled due to snow and wind throughout the day.”
    District notice

Read from Des Moines’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is dmschools.org.

Ten winters of school mornings

Des Moines’s snow record

32.2inches of snow a winter
3.2school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more
1.6with 4 in or more
4.1 ina big snow morning in Des Moines: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

More 4 inch school mornings than 84% of the 323 Iowa districts with a station record.

2.4Nov
5Dec
11.3Jan
8.4Feb
3.8Mar
Average snowfall by month, inches
  • Biggest day 10.3 in on January 25, 2021
  • Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 55.3 in
  • 6 in mornings 0.5 a winter
  • 1 in mornings 5.5 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 2.1 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.

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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 Des Moines

DistrictSnow a winter4 in mornings
West Des Moines Community School DistrictWest Des Moines27.8 in0.9
Norwalk Community School DistrictNorwalk33.3 in1.7
Johnston Community School DistrictJohnston30.8 in1.4
Urbandale Community School DistrictUrbandale27.8 in0.9
Southeast Polk Community School DistrictAltoona29.6 in1
Ankeny Community School DistrictAnkeny29.6 in1
The schools

59 schools, the 40 largest here

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

High

  • Lincoln High School
  • Roosevelt High School
  • East High School
  • North High School
  • Hoover High School
  • Virtual Campus

Middle

  • Weeks Middle School
  • Meredith Middle School
  • Merrill Middle School
  • McCombs Middle School
  • Harding Middle School
  • Brody Middle School
  • Callanan Middle School
  • Goodrell Middle School
  • Hoyt Middle School
  • Hiatt Middle School

Elementary

  • Brubaker Elementary School
  • Studebaker Elementary School
  • Capitol View Elementary School
  • River Woods Elementary School
  • Morris Elementary School
  • Jackson Elementary School
  • Moulton Elementary School
  • Perkins Elementary School
  • Garton Elementary
  • South Union Elementary School
  • Carver Elementary
  • Lovejoy Elementary School
  • Park Ave Elementary School
  • Cowles Elementary School
  • Samuelson Elementary School
  • Hubbell Elementary
  • Monroe Elementary School
  • Hanawalt Elementary
  • Stowe Elementary School
  • Oak Park
  • Cattell Elementary School
  • Greenwood Elementary School
  • Jefferson Elementary School

Other schools

  • Mitchell Early Childhood Center
Questions

Des Moines snow day questions

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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.