Horseheads, New York, 3,826 students in 7 schools

Horseheads Central School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Horseheads get?

About 28.1 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 5.8 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 3.3 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.2 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Horseheads?

18.7 inches on December 17, 2020, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 5.8 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 45.6 inches.

Q: How does the Horseheads snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Horseheads 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 Horseheads’s own big snow morning: 3.7 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 5.8 miles away.

Q: Can New York schools hold a remote day instead?

A district that would otherwise close for a storm may stay in session remotely under its emergency remote instruction plan, and that day counts toward the 180 days and the hours; districts are not required to do it.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Horseheads, measured against Horseheads's own big snow morning of 3.7 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Horseheads close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Horseheads’s snow record

28.1inches of snow a winter

3.3school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.2with 4 in or more

3.7 ina big snow morning in Horseheads: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

3.8school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

1.8Nov

7.1Dec

7.1Jan

7.7Feb

4.1Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 18.7 in on December 17, 2020
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 45.6 in
6 in mornings 0.5 a winter
1 in mornings 6.7 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 5.8 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 York rule

How New York counts a lost day

New York requires 180 days of session plus 900 hours a year for kindergarten to grade 6 and 990 hours for grades 7 to 12. The Commissioner can excuse up to 5 days closed for extraordinary weather, but only if the district cannot make them up by using all its scheduled vacation days before the June Regents exams.

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

Next door

Districts near Horseheads

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Elmira Heights Central School DistrictElmira Heights	28.9 in	1
Elmira City School DistrictElmira	28.9 in	1
Corning City School DistrictPainted Post	43.1 in	1.3
Addison Central School DistrictAddison	40.2 in	1.6
Waverly Central School DistrictWaverly	44.9 in	1.9
Bath Central School DistrictBath	60.9 in	2

The schools

7 schools

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

High

Horseheads Senior High School

Middle

Horseheads Intermediate School
Horseheads Middle School

Elementary

Ridge Road School
Gardner Road Elementary School
Big Flats School, Big Flats
Center Street School

Questions

Horseheads snow day questions

How much snow does Horseheads get?

What was the biggest snow day near Horseheads?

How does the Horseheads snow day predictor work?

How does New York handle snow days?

Can New York schools hold a remote day instead?

More winter

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