Valley Center, Kansas, 3,179 students in 7 schools

Valley Center Public Schools Unified School District 262 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Valley Center get?

About 10.3 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 2.5 miles away, averaged over 7 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.6 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.1 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Valley Center?

7.5 inches on November 26, 2023, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 2.5 miles away in 7 winters. The snowiest winter was 2024 to 2025, with 16.3 inches.

Q: How does the Valley Center snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Valley Center 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 Valley Center’s own big snow morning: 3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 2.5 miles away.

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

The next three school mornings

Will Valley Center close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Valley Center’s snow record

10.3inches of snow a winter

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

0.1with 4 in or more

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

1.1Nov

0.7Dec

4.3Jan

2.9Feb

0.7Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 7.5 in on November 26, 2023
Snowiest winter 2024 to 2025, 16.3 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 2.4 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 Valley Center

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Maize Unified School District 266Maize	9.6 in	0.1
Wichita Unified School District 259Wichita	12.3 in	0.7
Newton Unified School District 373Newton	10.4 in	0.4
Andover Unified School District 385Andover	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

7 schools

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

High

Valley Center High
The Learning Center

Middle

Valley Center Middle School

Elementary

Valley Center Intermediate School
Wheatland Elem
West Elem
Abilene Elem

Questions

Valley Center snow day questions

How much snow does Valley Center get?

What was the biggest snow day near Valley Center?

How does the Valley Center snow day predictor work?

How does Kansas handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Valley Center 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.