Sidman, Pennsylvania, 1,754 students in 2 schools

Forest Hills School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Sidman get?

About 56.1 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 9.5 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 8.1 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 2 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Forest Hills?

9.2 inches on December 17, 2020, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 9.5 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2017 to 2018, with 95.6 inches.

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

Forest Hills averages 2 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 88 percent of the 490 Pennsylvania districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Forest Hills snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Sidman 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 Forest Hills’s own big snow morning: 3.6 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 9.5 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Forest Hills, measured against Forest Hills's own big snow morning of 3.6 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Forest Hills close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Forest Hills’s snow record

56.1inches of snow a winter

8.1school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

2with 4 in or more

3.6 ina big snow morning in Forest Hills: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

4.7school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 88% of the 490 Pennsylvania districts with a station record.

4Nov

11.9Dec

16.6Jan

12.1Feb

8.8Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 9.2 in on December 17, 2020
Snowiest winter 2017 to 2018, 95.6 in
6 in mornings 0.7 a winter
1 in mornings 14.5 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 9.5 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 Forest Hills

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Richland School DistrictJohnstown	56.1 in	2
Windber Area School DistrictWindber	56.1 in	2
Greater Johnstown School DistrictJohnstown	56.1 in	2
Central Cambria School DistrictEbensburg	56.1 in	2
Westmont Hilltop School DistrictJohnstown	56.1 in	2
Penn Cambria School DistrictCresson	34.3 in	1.3

The schools

2 schools

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

High

Forest Hills JSHS

Elementary

Forest Hills El Sch

Questions

Forest Hills snow day questions

How much snow does Sidman get?

What was the biggest snow day near Forest Hills?

Does Forest Hills get more snow days than other Pennsylvania districts?

How does the Forest Hills 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.