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Grand Island, Nebraska, 10,070 students in 23 schools

Grand Island Public Schools Snow Day Predictor

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Grand Island, measured against Grand Island's own big snow morning of 2.9 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Grand Island close tomorrow?

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

How Grand Island calls a snow day

How families hear

By the district website, phone call, email, text message and social media.

“The official announcement will be posted on the district website. Families will receive a notification via (phone/email/text).”
School Closures - Grand Island Public Schools

4 built in snow days

On the 2026 to 2027 calendar, listed as “Emergency Make Up Days”.

“Emerg. Make-up days: May 24-27”
Source

Making up a lost day

Built into the calendar as emergency make-up days May 24 to 27.

Make up dates: May 24, May 25, May 26, May 27.

“Make up days are built into the calendar and the district will announce which days are to be used following a school closure.”
Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

  • First day August 12, 2026
  • Winter break Dec 21 to Jan 1
  • Last day May 20, 2027
District calendar

Read from Grand Island’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is gips.org.

Ten winters of school mornings

Grand Island’s snow record

24.6inches of snow a winter
2.5school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more
0.7with 4 in or more
2.9 ina big snow morning in Grand Island: the top tenth of snowy school mornings
5.8school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder
2.3Nov
3.9Dec
6.9Jan
6Feb
3.9Mar
Average snowfall by month, inches
  • Biggest day 10.2 in on January 25, 2021
  • Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 39.7 in
  • 6 in mornings 0.4 a winter
  • 1 in mornings 4.6 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 4.6 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.

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The Nebraska rule

How Nebraska counts a lost day

Nebraska requires at least 1,032 instructional hours for elementary grades and 1,080 for high school. At the State Board's discretion, a district that closed for severe storms or epidemic sickness keeps its accreditation and state aid, after the board secretary files a sworn statement if fewer hours will be offered.

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

Next door

Districts near Grand Island

DistrictSnow a winter4 in morningsBuilt in days
Kearney Public SchoolsKearney25.3 in0.6
Columbus Public SchoolsColumbus17.6 in1
Lexington Public SchoolsLexington18.8 in1.7
Lincoln Public SchoolsLincoln23.8 in0.6
Norfolk Public SchoolsNorfolk25 in1.3
Fremont Public SchoolsFremont24.5 in0.82
The schools

23 schools

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

High

  • Grand Island Senior High School
  • Career Pathways Institute
  • Indra House
  • Success Academy
  • Wyandotte Learning Center

Middle

  • Walnut Middle School
  • Barr Middle School
  • Westridge Middle School

Elementary

  • Engleman Elementary School
  • Howard Elementary School
  • Starr Elementary School
  • Dodge Elementary School
  • Shoemaker Elementary School
  • Newell Elementary School
  • Jefferson Elementary School
  • Lincoln Elementary School
  • Wasmer Elementary School
  • West Lawn Elementary School
  • Gates Elementary School
  • Stolley Park Elem School
  • Knickrehm Elementary School
  • Seedling Mile Elem School

Other schools

  • Early Learning Center
Questions

Grand Island snow day questions

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More winter

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