Newton, Kansas, 3,069 students in 8 schools

Newton Unified School District 373 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Newton get?

About 10.4 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1.6 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.3 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.4 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Newton?

8.2 inches on November 26, 2023, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1.6 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2024 to 2025, with 18.9 inches.

Q: How does the Newton snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Newton 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 Newton’s own big snow morning: 3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1.6 miles away.

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

The next three school mornings

Will Newton close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Newton’s snow record

10.4inches of snow a winter

1.3school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.4with 4 in or more

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

3.3school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

1.4Nov

1.1Dec

4Jan

3.1Feb

0.6Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8.2 in on November 26, 2023
Snowiest winter 2024 to 2025, 18.9 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 2.2 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1.6 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 Newton

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Valley Center Public Schools Unified School District 262Valley Center	10.3 in	0.1
Maize Unified School District 266Maize	9.6 in	0.1
Andover Unified School District 385Andover	12.3 in	0.7
Wichita Unified School District 259Wichita	12.3 in	0.7
Goddard Unified School District 265Goddard	8.8 in	0.2
Haysville Unified School District 261Haysville	4.3 in	0.1

The schools

8 schools

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

High

Newton Sr High
Opportunity Academy

Middle

Chisholm Middle School
Santa Fe 5/6 Center

Elementary

Northridge Elementary
South Breeze Elementary
Slate Creek Elementary
Sunset Elementary

Questions

Newton snow day questions

How much snow does Newton get?

What was the biggest snow day near Newton?

How does the Newton snow day predictor work?

How does Kansas handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Newton 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.