Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, 2,780 students in 4 schools

Donegal School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Mount Joy get?

About 21.9 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 4.5 miles away, averaged over 7 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 2.6 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.1 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Donegal?

10.1 inches on March 22, 2018, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 4.5 miles away in 7 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 37.9 inches.

Q: How does the Donegal snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Mount Joy 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 Donegal’s own big snow morning: 4.6 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 4.5 miles away.

Q: Can Pennsylvania schools hold a remote day instead?

A district with a PDE accepted plan can turn up to five closure days a year, including snow days, into Flexible Instructional Days that count as school days; they can be online, offline or both.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Donegal, measured against Donegal's own big snow morning of 4.6 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Donegal close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Donegal’s snow record

21.9inches of snow a winter

2.6school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.1with 4 in or more

4.6 ina big snow morning in Donegal: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

2school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

1Nov

3.2Dec

4.6Jan

7.9Feb

4.9Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 10.1 in on March 22, 2018
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 37.9 in
6 in mornings 0.6 a winter
1 in mornings 4.6 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 4.5 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 Donegal

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Columbia Borough School DistrictColumbia	21.9 in	1.1
Hempfield School DistrictLandisville	21.9 in	1.1	All made up
Eastern York School DistrictWrightsville	21.9 in	1.1
Elizabethtown Area School DistrictElizabethtown	25 in	1.6
Manheim Central School DistrictManheim	21.9 in	1.1
Manheim Township School DistrictLancaster	18.5 in	0.6

The schools

4 schools

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

High

Donegal HS

Middle

Donegal JHS

Elementary

Donegal Intermediate School, Marietta
Donegal Primary School

Questions

Donegal snow day questions

How much snow does Mount Joy get?

What was the biggest snow day near Donegal?

How does the Donegal snow day predictor work?

How does Pennsylvania handle snow days?

Can Pennsylvania schools hold a remote day instead?

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.