Topeka, Kansas, 3,807 students in 7 schools

Seaman Unified School District 345 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Topeka get?

About 14.2 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 2.5 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.1 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 Seaman?

14 inches on January 5, 2025, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 2.5 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2024 to 2025, with 29 inches.

Q: How does the Seaman snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Topeka 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 Seaman’s own big snow morning: 2.8 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 2.5 miles away.

Q: How far ahead does the Seaman 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 Seaman, measured against Seaman's own big snow morning of 2.8 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Seaman close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Seaman’s snow record

14.2inches of snow a winter

1.1school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.3with 4 in or more

2.8 ina big snow morning in Seaman: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

3.1school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

1.9Nov

1.7Dec

6.1Jan

2.4Feb

1.3Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 14 in on January 5, 2025
Snowiest winter 2024 to 2025, 29 in
6 in mornings 0 a winter
1 in mornings 2.1 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 2.5 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 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 Seaman

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Topeka Public Schools Unified School District 501Topeka	10.2 in	0.5
Auburn-Washburn Unified School District 437Topeka	10.2 in	0.5
Shawnee Heights Unified School District 450Tecumseh	15.5 in	0.5
Lawrence Unified School District 497Lawrence	15.1 in	0.4
De Soto Unified School District 232De Soto	15.1 in	0.8	2
Basehor-Linwood Unified School District 458Basehor	15.1 in	0.8

The schools

7 schools

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

High

Seaman High

Middle

Seaman Middle School

Elementary

Logan Elementary
West Indianola Elem
Northern Hills Elementary
Elmont Elem
North Fairview

Questions

Seaman snow day questions

How much snow does Topeka get?

What was the biggest snow day near Seaman?

How does the Seaman snow day predictor work?

How does Kansas handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Seaman 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.