Rochester, New Hampshire, 3,855 students in 10 schools

Rochester School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How many snow days does Rochester have built in?

5 for the 2026 to 2027 school year, listed on the calendar as “Snow Day if needed”.

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

June 21, 2027, on the district’s 2026 to 2027 calendar.

Q: How much snow does Rochester get?

About 56 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 7.2 miles away, averaged over 9 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 6.2 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 3 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Rochester?

15.8 inches on March 14, 2018, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 7.2 miles away in 9 winters. The snowiest winter was 2016 to 2017, with 95 inches.

Q: How does the Rochester snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Rochester 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 Rochester’s own big snow morning: 5.8 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 7.2 miles away.

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 5.8 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

5 built in snow days

On the 2026 to 2027 calendar, listed as “Snow Day if needed”.

“SD - Snow Day if needed”

Source

Making up a lost day

Snow days are taken at the end of June, after the June 21 last day.

Make up dates: Jun 22, Jun 23, Jun 24, Jun 25, Jun 28.

“SD - Snow Day if needed”

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 21, 2027

District calendar

The board policy

“The Superintendent or designee is empowered to close the district schools or to dismiss them early in the event of hazardous weather or other emergencies which threaten the health or safety of students and personnel.”

Board policy

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Rochester’s snow record

56inches of snow a winter

6.2school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

3with 4 in or more

5.8 ina big snow morning in Rochester: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

2Nov

10.4Dec

13Jan

16Feb

10.5Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 15.8 in on March 14, 2018
Snowiest winter 2016 to 2017, 95 in
6 in mornings 1.9 a winter
1 in mornings 8.8 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 7.2 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 Rochester

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Somersworth School DistrictSomersworth	56 in	3
Dover School DistrictDover	48.4 in	3.1
Oyster River Cooperative School DistrictDurham	48.4 in	3.1	5
Portsmouth School DistrictPortsmouth	43.5 in	2.1
Raymond School DistrictRaymond	52.6 in	3.3
Governor Wentworth Regional School DistrictWolfeboro Falls	71.5 in	4

The schools

10 schools

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

High

Spaulding High School
Bud Carlson Academy

Middle

Rochester Middle School

Elementary

Chamberlain Street School
McClelland School
East Rochester School, E. Rochester
William Allen School
Gonic School, Gonic
Maple Street Magnet School
School Street School

Questions

Rochester snow day questions

How many snow days does Rochester have built in?

When is the last day of school for Rochester?

How much snow does Rochester get?

What was the biggest snow day near Rochester?

How does the Rochester 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.