Defiance, Ohio, 2,323 students in 3 schools

Defiance City School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Defiance get?

About 16.3 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1 mile away, averaged over 9 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.9 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.4 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Defiance?

7 inches on February 4, 2022, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1 mile away in 9 winters. The snowiest winter was 2025 to 2026, with 33.9 inches.

Q: How does the Defiance snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Defiance 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 Defiance’s own big snow morning: 3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1 mile away.

Q: Can Ohio schools hold a remote day instead?

A school can make up the hours of up to three closed days online, including for hazardous weather, if its board adopted a plan by August 1; using it is optional.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Defiance, measured against Defiance's own big snow morning of 3 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Defiance close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Defiance’s snow record

16.3inches of snow a winter

1.9school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.4with 4 in or more

3 ina big snow morning in Defiance: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

3.1school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

1.1Nov

2.7Dec

6.3Jan

5.3Feb

0.9Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 7 in on February 4, 2022
Snowiest winter 2025 to 2026, 33.9 in
6 in mornings 0.2 a winter
1 in mornings 3.9 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1 mile 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 Ohio rule

How Ohio counts a lost day

Ohio requires hours, not days: 910 hours for full day kindergarten through grade 6, 1,001 hours for grades 7 to 12, 455 for half day kindergarten. Only hours that drop a school below the state minimum must be made up, by extending the school year.

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

Next door

Districts near Defiance

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Napoleon Area City School DistrictNapoleon	16.9 in	0.1
Paulding Exempted Village School DistrictPaulding	15.7 in	0.3
Bryan City School DistrictBryan	27.3 in	0.3
Archbold Area Local School DistrictArchbold	21.6 in	0.7
Wauseon Exempted Village School DistrictWauseon	21.6 in	0.7
Ottawa-Glandorf Local School DistrictOttawa	14.5 in	0.2

The schools

3 schools

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

High

Defiance High School

Middle

Defiance Middle School

Elementary

Defiance Elementary School

Questions

Defiance snow day questions

How much snow does Defiance get?

What was the biggest snow day near Defiance?

How does the Defiance snow day predictor work?

How does Ohio handle snow days?

Can Ohio schools hold a remote day instead?

More winter

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