Lancaster, Ohio, 6,229 students in 10 schools

Lancaster City School District Snow Day Predictor

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

June 4, 2027, on the district’s 2026 to 2027 calendar.

Q: How much snow does Lancaster get?

About 17.8 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 17.6 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 2.3 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Lancaster?

8 inches on January 17, 2022, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 17.6 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 34.6 inches.

Q: Does Lancaster get more snow days than other Ohio districts?

Lancaster averages 1 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 72 percent of the 582 Ohio districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Lancaster snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Lancaster 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 Lancaster’s own big snow morning: 3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 17.6 miles away.

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

The next three school mornings

Will Lancaster close tomorrow?

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

The Lancaster playbook

How Lancaster calls a snow day

Making up a lost day

The calendar lists five make-up days, if needed: June 7, 8 and 9, then April 2 and April 1 (the last two fall inside spring break).

“MAKE UP DAYS, IF NEEDED June 7, 8, 9, April 2, 1”

Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

First day September 1, 2026
Winter break Dec 21 to Jan 1
Last day June 4, 2027

District calendar

Read from Lancaster’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is lancaster.k12.oh.us.

Ten winters of school mornings

Lancaster’s snow record

17.8inches of snow a winter

2.3school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1with 4 in or more

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

3.8school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 72% of the 582 Ohio districts with a station record.

0.2Nov

3.8Dec

7.6Jan

4.3Feb

1.8Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8 in on January 17, 2022
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 34.6 in
6 in mornings 0.4 a winter
1 in mornings 4.2 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 17.6 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 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 Lancaster

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Fairfield Union Local School DistrictLancaster	17.8 in	1
Liberty Union-Thurston Local School DistrictBaltimore	19.5 in	0.5
Bloom-Carroll Local School DistrictCarroll	19.5 in	0.5
Northern Local School DistrictThornville	17.8 in	1
Amanda-Clearcreek Local School DistrictAmanda	19.5 in	0.5
Pickerington Local School DistrictPickerington	19.5 in	0.5

The schools

10 schools

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

High

Lancaster High School

Middle

Thomas Ewing Junior High School
General Sherman Junior High School

Elementary

Tarhe Trails Elementary School
Gorsuch West Elementary School
Medill Elementary School
Mt. Pleasant Elementary School
Tallmadge Elementary School

Other schools

Early Childhood Center 1
Early Childhood Center 2

Questions

Lancaster snow day questions

When is the last day of school for Lancaster?

How much snow does Lancaster get?

What was the biggest snow day near Lancaster?

Does Lancaster get more snow days than other Ohio districts?

How does the Lancaster snow day predictor work?

How does Ohio handle snow days?

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.