Mayfield, Kentucky, 3,888 students in 10 schools

Graves County School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Mayfield get?

About 7.1 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 22 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 0.7 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.3 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Graves?

9 inches on February 15, 2021, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 22 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 14 inches.

Q: Does Graves get more snow days than other Kentucky districts?

Graves averages 0.3 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 51 percent of the 127 Kentucky districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Graves snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Mayfield 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 Graves’s own big snow morning: 3.7 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 22 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Graves, measured against Graves's own big snow morning of 3.7 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Graves close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Graves’s snow record

7.1inches of snow a winter

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

0.3with 4 in or more

3.7 ina big snow morning in Graves: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

0.4school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 51% of the 127 Kentucky districts with a station record.

0.6Nov

0.5Dec

3.6Jan

1.9Feb

0.3Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 9 in on February 15, 2021
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 14 in
6 in mornings 0.2 a winter
1 in mornings 1.1 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 22 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 Kentucky rule

How Kentucky counts a lost day

Kentucky requires at least 1,062 instructional hours on at least 170 student attendance days. After an emergency a board may amend its calendar and lengthen or shorten the remaining days by 30 minutes or more, as long as the year still meets the requirement.

The Kentucky rules in the agency’s own words, and every Kentucky district

Next door

Districts near Graves

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
McCracken County School DistrictPaducah	7.1 in	0.3
Calloway County School DistrictMurray	6.2 in	0.4
Marshall County School DistrictBenton	6.2 in	0.4
Christian County School DistrictHopkinsville	6.3 in	0.1
Hopkins County School DistrictMadisonville	4.7 in	0
Muhlenberg County School DistrictPowderly	4.7 in	0

The schools

10 schools

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

High

Graves County High School
Gateway Academy High School
Mayfield Youth Development Center

Middle

Graves County Middle School

Elementary

Graves County Central Elementary
Wingo Elementary School, Wingo
Symsonia Elementary School, Symsonia
Sedalia Elementary School
Fancy Farm Elementary School, Fancy Farm
Farmington Elementary School

Questions

Graves snow day questions

How much snow does Mayfield get?

What was the biggest snow day near Graves?

Does Graves get more snow days than other Kentucky districts?

How does the Graves snow day predictor work?

How does Kentucky handle snow days?

More winter

More for Kentucky 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.Kentucky winter forecastThe season ahead for Kentucky: 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.