Dover School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: When does Dover call a snow day?

Dover announces closings about 6:00 a.m.; after a delay, a cancellation by 8:00 a.m, by its own published protocol.

Q: How does Dover announce a snow day?

By local TV, and on the district’s own closings page.

Q: Does Dover switch to remote learning on a snow day?

It can. Dover has remote learning days in its winter plan. When a closing gets likely, the morning here reads "Snow day or remote day".

Q: How long is a delayed start in Dover?

2 hours: on a delay morning every school starts that much later.

Q: When is the last day of school for Dover?

June 16, 2027, on the district’s 2026 to 2027 calendar.

Q: How does the Dover snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Dover 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 Dover’s own big snow morning: 7.9 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 5.1 miles away.

The next three school mornings

Will Dover close tomorrow?

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

The Dover playbook

How Dover calls a snow day

When the call comes

About 6:00 a.m.; after a delay, a cancellation by 8:00 a.m.

“The decision to cancel school will be made by approximately 6:00 a.m. If weather conditions worsen following a delayed opening, an announcement canceling school will be made by 8:00 a.m.”

Source

How families hear

By local TV.

“In all instances, please view the television station WMUR Channel 9 Manchester, or WMUR.com for information.”

Closings & Delays – Students and Families – Dover School District

A 2 hour delay

On a delay morning every school starts 2 hours late.

“TWO (2) HOUR DELAYED OPENING: Delayed opening is an alternative to closing school for the day. If this occurs, an announcement will be made at approximately 6:00 a.m.”

Delay schedule

Remote learning days

Dover has remote learning days in its winter plan.

“A remote learning day may be substituted for a “snow day”.”

Source

Making up a lost day

Five inclement weather makeup days follow the June 16 tentative last day.

Make up dates: Jun 17, Jun 18, Jun 21, Jun 22, Jun 23.

“** Makeup Days for Inclement Weather”

Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

First day September 1, 2026
Winter break Dec 24 to Jan 1
February break Feb 22 to Feb 26
Last day June 16, 2027

District calendar

Read from Dover’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is sau11.nh.gov.

Ten winters of school mornings

Dover’s snow record

48.4inches of snow a winter

6.1school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

3.1with 4 in or more

7.9 ina big snow morning in Dover: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

4.1school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

1.2Nov

10.6Dec

13.7Jan

11.7Feb

8.9Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 12.4 in on March 8, 2018
Snowiest winter 2016 to 2017, 69.5 in
6 in mornings 1.6 a winter
1 in mornings 8.4 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 5.1 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 New Hampshire rule

How New Hampshire counts a lost day

New Hampshire requires 180 days or the required hours: 450 in kindergarten, 945 in grades 1 to 6 and 990 in grades 7 to 12. Lost time must be rescheduled with added hours before a district can ask for a waiver of the hours requirement.

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

Next door

Districts near Dover

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Oyster River Cooperative School DistrictDurham	48.4 in	3.1	5
Somersworth School DistrictSomersworth	56 in	3
Rochester School DistrictRochester	56 in	3	5
Portsmouth School DistrictPortsmouth	43.5 in	2.1
Exeter Regional Cooperative School DistrictExeter	48 in	2.8
Winnacunnet Cooperative School DistrictHampton	48 in	2.8

The schools

5 schools

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

High

Dover Senior High School

Middle

Dover Middle School

Elementary

Woodman Park School
Frances G. Hopkins Elementary School at Horne Street
Garrison School

Questions

Dover snow day questions

When does Dover call a snow day?

How does Dover announce a snow day?

Does Dover switch to remote learning on a snow day?

How long is a delayed start in Dover?

When is the last day of school for Dover?

How does the Dover snow day predictor work?

How does New Hampshire handle snow days?

More winter

More for New Hampshire 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.New Hampshire winter forecastThe season ahead for New Hampshire: 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.