Emporia, Kansas, 4,399 students in 8 schools

Emporia Unified School District 253 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Emporia get?

About 8.3 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station under a mile away, averaged over 9 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 0.7 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.2 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Emporia?

7.5 inches on November 26, 2023, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station under a mile away in 9 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 18.9 inches.

Q: How does the Emporia snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Emporia 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 Emporia’s own big snow morning: 3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station under a mile away.

Q: How far ahead does the Emporia 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 Emporia, measured against Emporia's own big snow morning of 3 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Emporia close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Emporia’s snow record

8.3inches of snow a winter

0.7school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.2with 4 in or more

3 ina big snow morning in Emporia: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

1.9Nov

0.8Dec

2.9Jan

1.8Feb

0.3Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 7.5 in on November 26, 2023
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 18.9 in
6 in mornings 0 a winter
1 in mornings 1.8 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station under a mile 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 Emporia

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Auburn-Washburn Unified School District 437Topeka	10.2 in	0.5
Topeka Public Schools Unified School District 501Topeka	10.2 in	0.5
Shawnee Heights Unified School District 450Tecumseh	15.5 in	0.5
Seaman Unified School District 345Topeka	14.2 in	0.3
Geary County Schools Unified School District 475Junction City	10.7 in	0.3
Manhattan-Ogden Unified School District 383Manhattan	12.6 in	0.4

The schools

8 schools

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

High

Emporia High

Middle

Emporia Middle School

Elementary

Riverside Elementary
Village Elem
Timmerman Elementary
Walnut Elem
W A White Elem
Logan Ave Elem

Questions

Emporia snow day questions

How much snow does Emporia get?

What was the biggest snow day near Emporia?

How does the Emporia snow day predictor work?

How does Kansas handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Emporia 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.