Joplin, Missouri, 7,746 students in 16 schools

Joplin School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Joplin get?

About 8 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 4.7 miles away, averaged over 9 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 0.8 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.4 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Joplin?

6 inches on February 19, 2025, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 4.7 miles away in 9 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 15.8 inches.

Q: How does the Joplin snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Joplin 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 Joplin’s own big snow morning: 3.1 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 4.7 miles away.

Q: Can Missouri schools hold a remote day instead?

With a DESE approved AMI plan, hours taught at home on a closure day count as school in session, up to 36 hours a year; lost time after that must be made up.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Joplin, measured against Joplin's own big snow morning of 3.1 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Joplin close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Joplin’s snow record

8inches of snow a winter

0.8school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.4with 4 in or more

3.1 ina big snow morning in Joplin: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

0.5Nov

0.6Dec

3.4Jan

2.9Feb

0.4Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 6 in on February 19, 2025
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 15.8 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 1.9 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 4.7 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 Joplin

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Webb City R-VII School DistrictWebb City	8 in	0.4
Carl Junction R-I School DistrictCarl Junction	8 in	0.4
Carthage R-IX School DistrictCarthage	5.1 in	0.2
Neosho R-V School DistrictNeosho	5.1 in	0.2
McDonald County R-I School DistrictAnderson	7.1 in	0.4
Republic R-III School DistrictRepublic	8.4 in	0.3

The schools

16 schools

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

High

Joplin High
Franklin Technology Ctr.

Middle

East Middle
South Middle
North Middle

Elementary

Cecil Floyd Elem.
Irving Elementary
Soaring Heights Elem.
Dover Hill Elementary
Stapleton Elem.
McKinley Elem.
Kelsey Norman Elem.
Royal Heights Elem.
Eastmorland Elem.
Jefferson Elem.

Other schools

Joplin Early Childhood Ctr.

Questions

Joplin snow day questions

How much snow does Joplin get?

What was the biggest snow day near Joplin?

How does the Joplin snow day predictor work?

How does Missouri handle snow days?

Can Missouri schools hold a remote day instead?

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.