Tawas City, Michigan, 1,138 students in 3 schools

Tawas Area Schools Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Tawas City get?

About 39.9 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1.4 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 5 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 2.7 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Tawas?

12.4 inches on January 29, 2019, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1.4 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2017 to 2018, with 58.1 inches.

Q: Does Tawas get more snow days than other Michigan districts?

Tawas averages 2.7 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 80 percent of the 515 Michigan districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Tawas snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Tawas City 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 Tawas’s own big snow morning: 4.9 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1.4 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Tawas, measured against Tawas's own big snow morning of 4.9 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Tawas close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Tawas’s snow record

39.9inches of snow a winter

5school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

2.7with 4 in or more

4.9 ina big snow morning in Tawas: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

5.9school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 80% of the 515 Michigan districts with a station record.

1.4Nov

8.5Dec

10.9Jan

12.1Feb

4.4Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 12.4 in on January 29, 2019
Snowiest winter 2017 to 2018, 58.1 in
6 in mornings 0.8 a winter
1 in mornings 8.5 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1.4 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 Tawas

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Oscoda Area SchoolsOscoda	40.4 in	1.7
Standish-Sterling Community School DistrictStandish	42.9 in	1.6
West Branch-Rose City Area SchoolsWest Branch	50.6 in	1.7
Pinconning Area SchoolsPinconning	42.9 in	1.6
Essexville-Hampton Public SchoolsEssexville	34.6 in	1.4
Bay City School DistrictBay City	34.6 in	1.4

The schools

3 schools

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

High

Tawas Area High School

Middle

Tawas Area Middle School

Elementary

Clara B Bolen Elementary School

Questions

Tawas snow day questions

How much snow does Tawas City get?

What was the biggest snow day near Tawas?

Does Tawas get more snow days than other Michigan districts?

How does the Tawas snow day predictor work?

How does Michigan handle snow days?

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.