Okemos, Michigan, 4,643 students in 7 schools

Okemos Public Schools Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Okemos get?

About 45.6 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 4.3 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 4.4 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.2 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Okemos?

10 inches on February 3, 2022, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 4.3 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2017 to 2018, with 66.7 inches.

Q: How does the Okemos snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Okemos 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 Okemos’s own big snow morning: 3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 4.3 miles away.

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

The next three school mornings

Will Okemos close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Okemos’s snow record

45.6inches of snow a winter

4.4school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.2with 4 in or more

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

5.2Nov

8.9Dec

13.1Jan

11.8Feb

4.9Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 10 in on February 3, 2022
Snowiest winter 2017 to 2018, 66.7 in
6 in mornings 0.5 a winter
1 in mornings 9.9 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 4.3 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 Okemos

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Haslett Public SchoolsHaslett	45.6 in	1.2
East Lansing School DistrictEast Lansing	38.2 in	0.6
Lansing Public School DistrictLansing	38.2 in	0.6
Bath Community SchoolsBath	46.8 in	1.4
Williamston Community SchoolsWilliamston	41.5 in	1.3
Holt Public SchoolsHolt	38.2 in	0.6

The schools

7 schools

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

High

Okemos High School

Middle

Kinawa School
Chippewa Middle School

Elementary

Bennett Woods Elementary School
Cornell Elementary School
Hiawatha Elementary School
Okemos Public MontessoriCentral

Questions

Okemos snow day questions

How much snow does Okemos get?

What was the biggest snow day near Okemos?

How does the Okemos snow day predictor work?

How does Michigan handle snow days?

How far ahead does the Okemos 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.