Lowell, Michigan, 3,436 students in 7 schools

Lowell Area Schools Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Lowell get?

About 59.3 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 8.4 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 6 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.3 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Lowell?

8.7 inches on November 18, 2022, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 8.4 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2022 to 2023, with 80.2 inches.

Q: How does the Lowell snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Lowell 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 Lowell’s own big snow morning: 3.2 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 8.4 miles away.

Q: How far ahead does the Lowell 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 Lowell, measured against Lowell's own big snow morning of 3.2 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Lowell close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Lowell’s snow record

59.3inches of snow a winter

6school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.3with 4 in or more

3.2 ina big snow morning in Lowell: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

6.5Nov

13.3Dec

18.1Jan

13.9Feb

5.9Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8.7 in on November 18, 2022
Snowiest winter 2022 to 2023, 80.2 in
6 in mornings 0.5 a winter
1 in mornings 11.2 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 8.4 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 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 Lowell

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Forest Hills Public SchoolsGrand Rapids	68.7 in	2.3
Belding Area School DistrictBelding	46.8 in	1.8
Caledonia Community SchoolsCaledonia	68.6 in	2.3
East Grand Rapids Public School DistrictGrand Rapids	73.6 in	2.6
Ionia Public SchoolsIonia	59.3 in	1.3
Grand Rapids Public SchoolsGrand Rapids	73.6 in	2.6

The schools

7 schools

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

High

Lowell Senior High School
Unity Alternative School

Middle

Lowell Middle School

Elementary

Cherry Creek Elementary School
Murray Lake Elementary
Alto Elementary School, Alto
Bushnell Elementary School

Questions

Lowell snow day questions

How much snow does Lowell get?

What was the biggest snow day near Lowell?

How does the Lowell snow day predictor work?

How does Michigan handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Lowell 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.