Dallas, Pennsylvania, 2,445 students in 4 schools

Dallas School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Dallas get?

About 31.8 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 5.6 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 3.6 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 Dallas?

15.5 inches on March 15, 2017, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 5.6 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2016 to 2017, with 55.3 inches.

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

Dallas 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 Dallas snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Dallas 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 Dallas’s own big snow morning: 3.9 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 5.6 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Dallas, measured against Dallas's own big snow morning of 3.9 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Dallas close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Dallas’s snow record

31.8inches of snow a winter

3.6school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.3with 4 in or more

3.9 ina big snow morning in Dallas: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

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

2Nov

6Dec

8.2Jan

7.8Feb

6.7Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 15.5 in on March 15, 2017
Snowiest winter 2016 to 2017, 55.3 in
6 in mornings 0.7 a winter
1 in mornings 6.5 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 5.6 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 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 Dallas

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Lake-Lehman School DistrictDallas	31.8 in	1.3
Wyoming Valley West School DistrictKingston	31.8 in	1.3
Wyoming Area School DistrictExeter	31.8 in	1.3
Wilkes-Barre Area School DistrictWilkes Barre	31.8 in	1.3
Pittston Area School DistrictPittston	31.8 in	1.3
Hanover Area School DistrictHanover Township	31.8 in	1.3

The schools

4 schools

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

High

Dallas SHS

Middle

Dallas MS

Elementary

Dallas Intermediate Sch
Wycallis Primary Center

Questions

Dallas snow day questions

How much snow does Dallas get?

What was the biggest snow day near Dallas?

Does Dallas get more snow days than other Pennsylvania districts?

How does the Dallas 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.