Independence, Missouri, 4,796 students in 11 schools

Fort Osage R-I School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Independence get?

About 15.3 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 7 miles away, averaged over 7 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 2 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.9 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Fort Osage R-I?

12.5 inches on January 6, 2025, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 7 miles away in 7 winters. The snowiest winter was 2024 to 2025, with 24.4 inches.

Q: Does Fort Osage R-I get more snow days than other Missouri districts?

Fort Osage R-I averages 0.9 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 98 percent of the 494 Missouri districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Fort Osage R-I snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Independence 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 Fort Osage R-I’s own big snow morning: 4 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 7 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Fort Osage R-I, measured against Fort Osage R-I's own big snow morning of 4 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Fort Osage R-I close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Fort Osage R-I’s snow record

15.3inches of snow a winter

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

0.9with 4 in or more

4 ina big snow morning in Fort Osage R-I: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

More 4 inch school mornings than 98% of the 494 Missouri districts with a station record.

0.6Nov

1.9Dec

6.6Jan

4.4Feb

1Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 12.5 in on January 6, 2025
Snowiest winter 2024 to 2025, 24.4 in
6 in mornings 0.3 a winter
1 in mornings 3.9 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 7 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 Missouri rule

How Missouri counts a lost day

Missouri requires at least 1,044 hours of actual pupil attendance, plus 36 make-up hours built into the calendar for bad weather. A district must make up the first 36 weather hours and half of any hours beyond that, but never more than 60 make-up hours in total; anything past that is excused.

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

Next door

Districts near Fort Osage R-I

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Blue Springs R-IV School DistrictBlue Springs	15.3 in	0.9
Independence 30 School DistrictIndependence	15.3 in	0.9
Grain Valley R-V School DistrictGrain Valley	10.9 in	0.6
Liberty 53 School DistrictLiberty	13.9 in	0.6
Raytown C-2 School DistrictRaytown	15.3 in	0.9
North Kansas City 74 School DistrictKansas City	13.9 in	0.6	1

The schools

11 schools

Every school in Fort Osage R-I follows the district’s call: one closing covers them all.

High

Fort Osage High
Car. Tech. Ctr. at Ft. Osage

Middle

Osage Trail Middle
Fire Prairie Middle

Elementary

Indian Trails Elem.
Blue Hills Elem.
Cler-Mont Elem.
Buckner Elem.
Elm Grove Elem.

Other schools

Early Childhood Ctr.
Lewis and Clark Learning Ctr.

Questions

Fort Osage R-I snow day questions

How much snow does Independence get?

What was the biggest snow day near Fort Osage R-I?

Does Fort Osage R-I get more snow days than other Missouri districts?

How does the Fort Osage R-I snow day predictor work?

How does Missouri handle snow days?

More winter

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