Chatham, New Jersey, 3,563 students in 6 schools

The Chathams School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Chatham get?

About 24.8 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 2.1 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 2.4 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.4 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near The Chathams?

18 inches on March 7, 2018, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 2.1 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2025 to 2026, with 49.8 inches.

Q: Does The Chathams get more snow days than other New Jersey districts?

The Chathams averages 1.4 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 66 percent of the 486 New Jersey districts with a station record.

Q: How does the The Chathams snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Chatham 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 The Chathams’s own big snow morning: 5.5 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 2.1 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in The Chathams, measured against The Chathams's own big snow morning of 5.5 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will The Chathams close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

The Chathams’s snow record

24.8inches of snow a winter

2.4school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.4with 4 in or more

5.5 ina big snow morning in The Chathams: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

More 4 inch school mornings than 66% of the 486 New Jersey districts with a station record.

0.5Nov

3.8Dec

5.7Jan

9.1Feb

5.2Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 18 in on March 7, 2018
Snowiest winter 2025 to 2026, 49.8 in
6 in mornings 0.7 a winter
1 in mornings 4.6 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 2.1 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 Jersey rule

How New Jersey counts a lost day

New Jersey requires at least 180 days of school, or the district loses state aid.

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

Next door

Districts near The Chathams

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Summit City School DistrictSummit	24.8 in	1.4
Millburn Township School DistrictMillburn	24.8 in	1.4
Livingston Township School DistrictLivingston	24.8 in	1.4
Scotch Plains-Fanwood Regional School DistrictScotch Plains	24.8 in	1.4
Westfield Town School DistrictWestfield	24.8 in	1.4
Union Township School DistrictUnion	24.2 in	1.2

The schools

6 schools

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

High

Chatham High School

Middle

Chatham Middle School

Elementary

Lafayette Avenue School
Southern Boulevard School
Milton Avenue School
Washington Avenue School

Questions

The Chathams snow day questions

How much snow does Chatham get?

What was the biggest snow day near The Chathams?

Does The Chathams get more snow days than other New Jersey districts?

How does the The Chathams snow day predictor work?

How does New Jersey handle snow days?

More winter

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