Chelsea, Michigan, 2,277 students in 4 schools

Chelsea School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Chelsea get?

About 32.1 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1 mile away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 3.8 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Chelsea?

8 inches on March 4, 2023, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1 mile away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2017 to 2018, with 45 inches.

Q: How does the Chelsea snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Chelsea 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 Chelsea’s own big snow morning: 3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1 mile away.

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

The next three school mornings

Will Chelsea close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Chelsea’s snow record

32.1inches of snow a winter

3.8school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1with 4 in or more

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

4.2school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

3.6Nov

5.2Dec

10Jan

9Feb

3.8Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8 in on March 4, 2023
Snowiest winter 2017 to 2018, 45 in
6 in mornings 0.2 a winter
1 in mornings 7.6 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1 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 Michigan rule

How Michigan counts a lost day

Michigan requires at least 180 days and 1,098 hours of pupil instruction. The first 6 days (or the same hours) lost to conditions outside the district's control, such as severe storms, are counted as instruction; up to 3 more can be approved by the State Superintendent.

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

Next door

Districts near Chelsea

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Dexter Community School DistrictDexter	31.1 in	0.9
Grass Lake Community SchoolsGrass Lake	32.1 in	1
Pinckney Community SchoolsPinckney	28.6 in	1.1
Stockbridge Community SchoolsStockbridge	34.7 in	0.6
Ann Arbor Public SchoolsAnn Arbor	50.7 in	1.4	6
Saline Area SchoolsSaline	28.7 in	1

The schools

4 schools

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

High

Chelsea High School

Middle

Beach Middle School

Elementary

North Creek Elementary School
South Meadows Elementary School

Questions

Chelsea snow day questions

How much snow does Chelsea get?

What was the biggest snow day near Chelsea?

How does the Chelsea snow day predictor work?

How does Michigan handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Chelsea snow day predictor look?

More winter

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