Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, 2,486 students in 4 schools

Blue Mountain School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Orwigsburg get?

About 24.9 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 8.1 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 2.8 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.3 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Blue Mountain?

14.5 inches on February 2, 2021, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 8.1 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2017 to 2018, with 45.5 inches.

Q: Does Blue Mountain get more snow days than other Pennsylvania districts?

Blue Mountain averages 1.3 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 64 percent of the 490 Pennsylvania districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Blue Mountain snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Orwigsburg 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 Blue Mountain’s own big snow morning: 4 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 8.1 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Blue Mountain, measured against Blue Mountain's own big snow morning of 4 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Blue Mountain close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Blue Mountain’s snow record

24.9inches of snow a winter

2.8school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.3with 4 in or more

4 ina big snow morning in Blue Mountain: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

More 4 inch school mornings than 64% of the 490 Pennsylvania districts with a station record.

0.6Nov

4.1Dec

6.9Jan

8.3Feb

4.7Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 14.5 in on February 2, 2021
Snowiest winter 2017 to 2018, 45.5 in
6 in mornings 0.6 a winter
1 in mornings 4.8 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 8.1 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 Pennsylvania rule

How Pennsylvania counts a lost day

Pennsylvania requires either 180 days, or hours: 900 for kindergarten through grade 6 and 990 for grades 7 to 12, as the district chooses. The state forgives no days; districts are expected to build make-up days into the calendar for closures beyond any Flexible Instructional Days.

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

Next door

Districts near Blue Mountain

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Schuylkill Haven Area School DistrictSchuylkill Haven	24.9 in	1.3
Pottsville Area School DistrictPottsville	40.4 in	2.4
Hamburg Area School DistrictHamburg	24.9 in	1.3
Minersville Area School DistrictMinersville	40.4 in	2.4
Mahanoy Area School DistrictMahanoy City	40.4 in	2.4
Tamaqua Area School DistrictTamaqua	40.4 in	2.4

The schools

4 schools

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

High

Blue Mountain HS, Schuylkill Haven

Middle

Blue Mountain MS

Elementary

Blue Mountain El East School
Blue Mountain El West Sch, Friedensburg

Questions

Blue Mountain snow day questions

How much snow does Orwigsburg get?

What was the biggest snow day near Blue Mountain?

Does Blue Mountain get more snow days than other Pennsylvania districts?

How does the Blue Mountain snow day predictor work?

How does Pennsylvania handle snow days?

More winter

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