Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, 2,797 students in 12 schools

Detroit Lakes Public School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Detroit Lakes get?

About 48.2 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1.3 miles away, averaged over 7 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 5.9 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 2.3 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Detroit Lakes?

13 inches on March 10, 2019, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1.3 miles away in 7 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 80.4 inches.

Q: Does Detroit Lakes get more snow days than other Minnesota districts?

Detroit Lakes averages 2.3 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 73 percent of the 322 Minnesota districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Detroit Lakes snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Detroit Lakes 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 Detroit Lakes’s own big snow morning: 3.5 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1.3 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Detroit Lakes, measured against Detroit Lakes's own big snow morning of 3.5 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Detroit Lakes close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Detroit Lakes’s snow record

48.2inches of snow a winter

5.9school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

2.3with 4 in or more

3.5 ina big snow morning in Detroit Lakes: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

29.7school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 73% of the 322 Minnesota districts with a station record.

4.1Nov

12.9Dec

6.2Jan

8.5Feb

9.7Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 13 in on March 10, 2019
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 80.4 in
6 in mornings 0.3 a winter
1 in mornings 8 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1.3 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 Minnesota rule

How Minnesota counts a lost day

Minnesota requires at least 165 days for grades 1 to 11, plus 935 hours for grades 1 to 6 and 1,020 hours for grades 7 to 12.

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

Next door

Districts near Detroit Lakes

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Perham-Dent Public School DistrictPerham	65.6 in	2.3
Hawley Public School DistrictHawley	67.2 in	2.6
Park Rapids Public School DistrictPark Rapids	57.5 in	3.9
Fergus Falls Public School DistrictFergus Falls	59.2 in	1.9
Dilworth-Glyndon-FeltonDilworth	48.5 in	2
Wadena-Deer Creek School DistrictWadena	58 in	2.9

The schools

12 schools

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

High

Detroit Lakes Senior High
Detroit Lakes Area Learning Center
E-Laker Online School
Laker Transitions
Afterschool Program
Detroit Lakes Alternative Program
HS Extended Year Program

Middle

Detroit Lakes Middle
Detroit Lakes Middle Alc

Elementary

Rossman Elementary
Roosevelt Elementary

Other schools

Lincoln Early Childhood Ed. Center

Questions

Detroit Lakes snow day questions

How much snow does Detroit Lakes get?

What was the biggest snow day near Detroit Lakes?

Does Detroit Lakes get more snow days than other Minnesota districts?

How does the Detroit Lakes snow day predictor work?

How does Minnesota handle snow days?

More winter

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