Waterloo Community School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: When is the last day of school for Waterloo?

May 21, 2027, on the district’s 2026 to 2027 calendar.

Q: How much snow does Waterloo get?

About 34.5 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1.5 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 3.4 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 Waterloo?

9.3 inches on January 26, 2021, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1.5 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 57.4 inches.

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

Waterloo 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 Waterloo snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Waterloo 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 Waterloo’s own big snow morning: 4.3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1.5 miles away.

The next three school mornings

Will Waterloo close tomorrow?

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

The Waterloo playbook

How Waterloo calls a snow day

Making up a lost day

Added at the end of the school year if needed.

“*** Snow Days will be made up at the end of the school year, if needed”

Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

First day August 24, 2026
Winter break Dec 22 to Jan 1
Last day May 21, 2027

District calendar

Read from Waterloo’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is waterlooschools.org.

Ten winters of school mornings

Waterloo’s snow record

34.5inches of snow a winter

3.4school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.4with 4 in or more

4.3 ina big snow morning in Waterloo: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

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

3Nov

5.6Dec

10.9Jan

8.7Feb

4.5Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 9.3 in on January 26, 2021
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 57.4 in
6 in mornings 0.7 a winter
1 in mornings 5.8 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1.5 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 Waterloo

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Cedar Falls Community School DistrictCedar Falls	35.6 in	1.5
Marshalltown Community School DistrictMarshalltown	27.2 in	0.8
Cedar Rapids Community School DistrictCedar Rapids	33.5 in	1.8	3
Linn-Mar Community School DistrictMarion	33.5 in	1.8
College Community School DistrictCedar Rapids	25 in	1.3
Clear Creek-Amana Community School DistrictOxford	30.2 in	1.4

The schools

18 schools

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

High

West High School
East High School
Expo Alternative Learning Center

Middle

Hoover Middle School
Bunger Middle School, Evansdale
Central Middle School
George Washington Carver Academy

Elementary

Kittrell Elementary School
Orange Elementary School
Lincoln Elementary School
Lowell Elementary School
Highland Elementary School
Fred Becker Elementary School
Lou Henry Elementary School
Cunningham School
Irving Elementary School
Poyner Elementary, Evansdale
Kingsley Elementary School

Questions

Waterloo snow day questions

When is the last day of school for Waterloo?

How much snow does Waterloo get?

What was the biggest snow day near Waterloo?

Does Waterloo get more snow days than other Iowa districts?

How does the Waterloo 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.