Park Rapids, Minnesota, 1,675 students in 8 schools

Park Rapids Public School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Park Rapids get?

About 57.5 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 21.6 miles away, averaged over 9 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 6.7 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 3.9 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Park Rapids?

11 inches on March 12, 2023, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 21.6 miles away in 9 winters. The snowiest winter was 2022 to 2023, with 86 inches.

Q: Does Park Rapids get more snow days than other Minnesota districts?

Park Rapids averages 3.9 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 98 percent of the 322 Minnesota districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Park Rapids snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Park Rapids 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 Park Rapids’s own big snow morning: 5 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 21.6 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Park Rapids, measured against Park Rapids's own big snow morning of 5 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Park Rapids close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Park Rapids’s snow record

57.5inches of snow a winter

6.7school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

3.9with 4 in or more

5 ina big snow morning in Park Rapids: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

34.3school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 98% of the 322 Minnesota districts with a station record.

4.1Nov

16.7Dec

7.8Jan

9.4Feb

9.1Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 11 in on March 12, 2023
Snowiest winter 2022 to 2023, 86 in
6 in mornings 0.9 a winter
1 in mornings 11.3 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 21.6 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 Park Rapids

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Wadena-Deer Creek School DistrictWadena	58 in	2.9
Perham-Dent Public School DistrictPerham	65.6 in	2.3
Detroit Lakes Public School DistrictDetroit Lakes	48.2 in	2.3
Cass Lake-Bena Public SchoolsCass Lake	56.4 in	2.7
Bemidji Public School DistrictBemidji	57.1 in	2.3
Pequot Lakes Public SchoolsPequot Lakes	69.2 in	3.1

The schools

8 schools

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

High

Park Rapids Senior High
Headwaters Educ Learning Program
Park Rapids Virtual Academy High

Middle

Park Rapids Area Century Middle
Century Middle School Within A Sch
Park Rapids Virtual Academy Middle

Elementary

Park Rapids Area Century Elementary

Other schools

Frank White Education Center

Questions

Park Rapids snow day questions

How much snow does Park Rapids get?

What was the biggest snow day near Park Rapids?

Does Park Rapids get more snow days than other Minnesota districts?

How does the Park Rapids 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.