East Penn School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: When does East Penn call a snow day?

East Penn announces closings between 5:00 AM and 5:30 AM, by its own published protocol.

Q: How does East Penn announce a snow day?

By the district website, and on the district’s own closings page.

Q: How many snow days does East Penn have built in?

2 for the 2026 to 2027 school year, listed on the calendar as “inclement weather make-up days”.

Q: Does East Penn switch to remote learning on a snow day?

It can. East Penn has remote learning days in its winter plan, up to 5 a year. When a closing gets likely, the morning here reads "Snow day or remote day".

Q: When is the last day of school for East Penn?

June 9, 2027, on the district’s 2026 to 2027 calendar.

Q: How does the East Penn snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Emmaus 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 East Penn’s own big snow morning: 4.1 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 8.5 miles away.

The next three school mornings

Will East Penn close tomorrow?

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

The East Penn playbook

How East Penn calls a snow day

When the call comes

Between 5:00 AM and 5:30 AM.

“Between 5:00 AM and 5:30 AM, the Superintendent makes an informed decision for East Penn and if a closing or delay is warranted, the announcement is made through the district’s emergency notification system (SchoolMessenger), the district’s website, and media outlets.”

Source

How families hear

By the district website.

“The district notifies families through the district’s emergency notification system (SchoolMessenger), media outlets, and updates on the district website.”

Inclement Weather Decision-Making

2 built in snow days

On the 2026 to 2027 calendar, listed as “inclement weather make-up days”.

“There are two inclement weather make-up days already built into the calendar.”

Source

Remote learning days

East Penn has remote learning days in its winter plan, up to 5 a year.

“Up to five (5) remote learning days may be utilized in a school year.”

Source

Making up a lost day

After the two built in days: Mar 24, 2027 becomes a full day if 3 closings occur on or before Mar 15, then Jun 10, 11, 14, 15 and 16.

“If additional inclement weather days are needed beyond the two days, the order of make-up days is: a. 3/24/27 becomes a full day (if 3 closings occur on or before 3/15/27) then 3/25/27 becomes early dismissal. b. 6/10/27 3. 6/11/27 4. 6/14/27 5. 6/15/27 6. 6/16/27”

Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

First day August 24, 2026
Winter break Dec 21 to Jan 1
Last day June 9, 2027

District calendar

Read from East Penn’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is eastpennsd.org.

Ten winters of school mornings

East Penn’s snow record

27.8inches of snow a winter

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

0.9with 4 in or more

4.1 ina big snow morning in East Penn: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

0.6school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

0.8Nov

3.9Dec

7.5Jan

9.6Feb

5.6Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 22.4 in on February 1, 2021
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 58.1 in
6 in mornings 0.6 a winter
1 in mornings 3.6 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 8.5 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 East Penn

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Allentown City School DistrictAllentown	27.8 in	0.9
Parkland School DistrictAllentown	27.8 in	0.9
Southern Lehigh School DistrictCenter Valley	33.8 in	1.9
Salisbury Township School DistrictAllentown	27.8 in	0.9
Whitehall-Coplay School DistrictWhitehall	27.8 in	0.9
Catasauqua Area School DistrictCatasauqua	27.8 in	0.9

The schools

10 schools

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

High

Emmaus HS

Middle

Lower Macungie MS, Macungie
Eyer MS, Macungie

Elementary

Willow Lane El Sch, Macungie
Shoemaker El Sch, Macungie
Macungie El Sch, Macungie
Wescosville El Sch, Wescosville
Lincoln El Sch
Alburtis El Sch, Alburtis
Jefferson El Sch

Questions

East Penn snow day questions

When does East Penn call a snow day?

How does East Penn announce a snow day?

How many snow days does East Penn have built in?

Does East Penn switch to remote learning on a snow day?

When is the last day of school for East Penn?

How does the East Penn 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.