Salina, Kansas, 6,791 students in 13 schools

Salina Unified School District 305 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Salina get?

About 13.2 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station under a mile away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.6 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.5 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Salina?

8 inches on January 6, 2025, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station under a mile away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 29.9 inches.

Q: Does Salina get more snow days than other Kansas districts?

Salina averages 0.5 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 64 percent of the 284 Kansas districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Salina snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Salina 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 Salina’s own big snow morning: 3.9 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station under a mile away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Salina, measured against Salina's own big snow morning of 3.9 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Salina close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Salina’s snow record

13.2inches of snow a winter

1.6school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.5with 4 in or more

3.9 ina big snow morning in Salina: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

More 4 inch school mornings than 64% of the 284 Kansas districts with a station record.

1.9Nov

1.3Dec

5.3Jan

2.6Feb

1.5Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8 in on January 6, 2025
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 29.9 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 2.5 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 Salina

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Geary County Schools Unified School District 475Junction City	10.7 in	0.3
Newton Unified School District 373Newton	10.4 in	0.4
Manhattan-Ogden Unified School District 383Manhattan	12.6 in	0.4
Valley Center Public Schools Unified School District 262Valley Center	10.3 in	0.1
Maize Unified School District 266Maize	9.6 in	0.1
Emporia Unified School District 253Emporia	8.3 in	0.2

The schools

13 schools

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

High

Salina High South
Salina High Central
Salina Virtual Innovation Academy

Middle

Salina South Middle
Lakewood Middle School

Elementary

Meadowlark Ridge Elem
Stewart Elem
Coronado Elem
Schilling Elem
Heusner Elem
Sunset Elem
Cottonwood Elementary School
Oakdale Elem

Questions

Salina snow day questions

How much snow does Salina get?

What was the biggest snow day near Salina?

Does Salina get more snow days than other Kansas districts?

How does the Salina snow day predictor work?

How does Kansas handle snow days?

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.