Dodge City, Kansas, 7,181 students in 11 schools

Dodge City Unified School District 443 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Dodge City get?

About 15.1 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1.1 miles away, averaged over 7 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.4 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.3 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Dodge City?

9.5 inches on January 26, 2022, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1.1 miles away in 7 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 27.5 inches.

Q: How does the Dodge City snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Dodge City 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 Dodge City’s own big snow morning: 3.5 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1.1 miles away.

Q: How far ahead does the Dodge City snow day predictor look?

Three school mornings, as far as the National Weather Service hourly forecast reaches. Weekends and breaks are skipped, so a Friday storm is read for Monday’s buses.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Dodge City, measured against Dodge City's own big snow morning of 3.5 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Dodge City close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Dodge City’s snow record

15.1inches of snow a winter

1.4school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.3with 4 in or more

3.5 ina big snow morning in Dodge City: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

1.5Nov

1.9Dec

5.5Jan

2.9Feb

1.8Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 9.5 in on January 26, 2022
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 27.5 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 2.6 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1.1 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.

The Kansas rule

How Kansas counts a lost day

Kansas requires 186 school days (181 for seniors), or by board policy 1,116 school hours for grades 1 to 11 (1,086 for seniors, 465 for kindergarten). Once the board's scheduled snow make-up days are used up, extra weather closures count as school days, up to the number of make-up days scheduled or five days, whichever is smaller.

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

Next door

Districts near Dodge City

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Garden City Unified School District 457Garden City	16.1 in	0.6
Liberal Unified School District 480Liberal	10 in	0.3
Hays Unified School District 489Hays	11.3 in	0.6
Goddard Unified School District 265Goddard	8.8 in	0.2
Maize Unified School District 266Maize	9.6 in	0.1
Valley Center Public Schools Unified School District 262Valley Center	10.3 in	0.1

The schools

11 schools

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

High

Dodge City High School

Middle

Dodge City Middle School
Comanche Middle School

Elementary

Miller Elem
Ross Elementary School
Soule Elementary School
Central Elem
Northwest Elem
Sunnyside Elem
Linn Elementary
Beeson Elementary

Questions

Dodge City snow day questions

How much snow does Dodge City get?

What was the biggest snow day near Dodge City?

How does the Dodge City snow day predictor work?

How does Kansas handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Dodge City snow day predictor look?

More winter

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