Mars, Pennsylvania, 3,607 students in 5 schools

Mars Area School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Mars get?

About 38.9 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 4.9 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 4.5 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.4 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Mars?

11.5 inches on January 26, 2026, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 4.9 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2017 to 2018, with 57.3 inches.

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

Mars averages 1.4 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 73 percent of the 490 Pennsylvania districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Mars snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Mars 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 Mars’s own big snow morning: 3.2 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 4.9 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Mars, measured against Mars's own big snow morning of 3.2 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Mars close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Mars’s snow record

38.9inches of snow a winter

4.5school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.4with 4 in or more

3.2 ina big snow morning in Mars: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

More 4 inch school mornings than 73% of the 490 Pennsylvania districts with a station record.

2.2Nov

8.2Dec

14.4Jan

7.5Feb

5.2Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 11.5 in on January 26, 2026
Snowiest winter 2017 to 2018, 57.3 in
6 in mornings 0.4 a winter
1 in mornings 9 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 4.9 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 Mars

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Pine-Richland School DistrictGibsonia	38.9 in	1.4
Hampton Township School DistrictAllison Park	17.3 in	1.3
Deer Lakes School DistrictCheswick	17.3 in	1.3
Knoch School DistrictSaxonburg	14.6 in	0.4
North Allegheny School DistrictPittsburgh	11.9 in	0.4	2
Seneca Valley School DistrictHarmony	38.9 in	1.4	3

The schools

5 schools

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

High

Mars Area SHS

Middle

Mars Area Centennial Sch
Mars Area MS

Elementary

Mars Area El Sch
Mars Area Primary Ctr

Questions

Mars snow day questions

How much snow does Mars get?

What was the biggest snow day near Mars?

Does Mars get more snow days than other Pennsylvania districts?

How does the Mars 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.