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Rochester, Minnesota, 17,342 students in 49 schools

Rochester Public School District Snow Day Predictor

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Rochester, measured against Rochester's own big snow morning of 4.4 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Rochester close tomorrow?

Reading the National Weather Service forecast for the overnight and the bus hours in Rochester.
The Rochester playbook

How Rochester calls a snow day

When the call comes

Either the night before or as soon as possible in the morning, typically by 5:30 a.m.

“Decisions on school closings and late starts will be made as early as possible – either the night before or as soon as possible in the morning, typically by 5:30 a.m.”
Source

How families hear

By email, phone call, text message, the district website, the district app, social media, local TV and radio.

“All school closing information will be communicated by the director of communications or her designee through: Parent and Staff Notification System (families with students in the district are automatically enrolled in our Alerts messaging system).”
Inclement Weather and Emergency School Closings

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

  • First day August 24, 2026
  • Winter break Dec 22 to Jan 3
  • Last day June 3, 2027
District calendar

Read from Rochester’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is rochesterschools.org.

Ten winters of school mornings

Rochester’s snow record

51.5inches of snow a winter
5.4school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more
2.1with 4 in or more
4.4 ina big snow morning in Rochester: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

More 4 inch school mornings than 63% of the 322 Minnesota districts with a station record.

3.9Nov
10.9Dec
9.5Jan
12Feb
8.3Mar
Average snowfall by month, inches
  • Biggest day 13.5 in on March 16, 2026
  • Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 87.7 in
  • 6 in mornings 0.8 a winter
  • 1 in mornings 9.4 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 2.4 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.

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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 Rochester

DistrictSnow a winter4 in mornings
Byron Public School DistrictByron45.1 in1.9
Stewartville Public School DistrictStewartville48 in2
Dover-Eyota Public School DistrictEyota46 in1.6
Kasson-Mantorville School DistrictKasson50.3 in1.6
Pine Island Public School DistrictPine Island41 in1.1
Plainview-Elgin-MillvillePlainview46 in1.6
The schools

49 schools, the 40 largest here

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

High

  • Mayo Senior High
  • Century Senior High
  • John Marshall Senior High
  • Rochester Alternative Learning Cntr
  • RPS Online High School
  • Rochester Academy-Idp Living(RAIL)
  • Project Search Mayo Clinic
  • LEAP Launching Emerging Adults Prg
  • Care & Treatment at ESC

Middle

  • Dakota Middle School
  • Willow Creek Middle
  • John Adams Middle
  • Kellogg Middle
  • RPS Online Middle School
  • Middle School Right Fit

Elementary

  • Gibbs Elementary
  • Bamber Valley Elementary
  • Gage Elementary
  • Overland Elementary School
  • Bishop Elementary
  • Franklin Elementary
  • Jefferson Elementary
  • Lincoln K-8 District-Wide School
  • Sunset Terrace Elementary
  • Riverside Central Elementary
  • Longfellow 45-15 Districtwide Elem
  • Folwell Elementary
  • Washington District-Wide Elementary
  • Elton Hills Elementary
  • Pinewood Elementary
  • Hoover Elementary
  • Churchill Elementary
  • Montessori at Franklin Elementary
  • RPS Online Elementary School

Other schools

  • Hoover Early Learning School
  • Early Childhood Intervention
  • Rochester Phoenix Academy
  • Mighty Oaks Early Learning School
  • PrairieCare
  • ECSE Community
Questions

Rochester snow day questions

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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.