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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 19,769 students in 56 schools

Pittsburgh School District Snow Day Predictor

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Pittsburgh, measured against Pittsburgh's own big snow morning of 2.5 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Pittsburgh close tomorrow?

Reading the National Weather Service forecast for the overnight and the bus hours in Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh playbook

How Pittsburgh calls a snow day

When the call comes

Goal is a decision by 5:30 a.m.; when it can be made the night before, an announcement by 10 p.m.

“When a decision can be made the preceding night, the District will attempt to make an announcement by 10 p.m. In most cases, a decision won’t be made until morning. The goal is to make a decision to have a 2-hour delay or close schools by 5:30 a.m.”
Source

How families hear

By phone call, text message, the district website, social media and local TV.

“TalkingPoints Text Messages: Families will receive consistent, translated text updates through TalkingPoints.”
Delays and Closures - Pittsburgh Public Schools

A 2 hour delay

On a delay morning every school starts 2 hours late.

“In the instance of a 2-hour delay, all students must report to school exactly 2-hours after their schools normal start time.”

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

  • First day August 24, 2026
  • Winter break Dec 21 to Jan 1
  • Last day June 8, 2027
District calendar

Read from Pittsburgh’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is pghschools.org.

Ten winters of school mornings

Pittsburgh’s snow record

10.1inches of snow a winter
1.4school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more
0.3with 4 in or more
2.5 ina big snow morning in Pittsburgh: the top tenth of snowy school mornings
0.5school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder
0Nov
1.9Dec
5.4Jan
2.4Feb
0.4Mar
Average snowfall by month, inches
  • Biggest day 7 in on January 17, 2022
  • Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 17.8 in
  • 6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
  • 1 in mornings 3.3 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 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.

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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 Pittsburgh

DistrictSnow a winter4 in mornings
Steel Valley School DistrictMunhall10.1 in0.3
Brentwood Borough School DistrictPittsburgh10.1 in0.3
Woodland Hills School DistrictN. Braddock10.1 in0.3
Shaler Area School DistrictGlenshaw11.9 in0.4
Keystone Oaks School DistrictPittsburgh29.4 in0.9
West Mifflin Area School DistrictWest Mifflin10.1 in0.3
The schools

56 schools, the 40 largest here

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

High

  • Pittsburgh Allderdice HS
  • Pittsburgh Brashear HS
  • Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12
  • Pittsburgh Obama 6-12
  • Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy 6-12
  • Pittsburgh Westinghouse
  • Pittsburgh Carrick HS
  • Pittsburgh Perry HS
  • Pittsburgh Milliones 6-12

Middle

  • Pittsburgh South Hills 6-8
  • Pittsburgh Classical 6-8
  • Pittsburgh Schiller 6-8
  • Pittsburgh South Brook 6-8

Elementary

  • Pittsburgh Colfax K-8
  • Pittsburgh Allegheny K-5
  • Pittsburgh Carmalt K-8
  • Pittsburgh Faison K-5
  • Pittsburgh Morrow K-8
  • Pittsburgh Concord K-5
  • Pittsburgh Langley K-8
  • Pittsburgh Dilworth K-5
  • Pittsburgh Brookline K-8
  • Pittsburgh Arlington K-8
  • Pittsburgh Greenfield K-8
  • Pittsburgh Beechwood K-5
  • Pittsburgh King K-8
  • Pittsburgh Montessori K-5
  • Pittsburgh Arsenal K-5
  • Pittsburgh Minadeo K-5
  • Pittsburgh Fulton K-5
  • Pittsburgh Banksville K-5
  • Pittsburgh Westwood K-5
  • Pittsburgh Mifflin K-8
  • Pittsburgh Sunnyside K-8
  • Pittsburgh Liberty K-5
  • Pittsburgh Roosevelt K -5
  • Pittsburgh Miller K-5
  • Pittsburgh Phillips K-5
  • Pittsburgh Woolslair K-5
  • Pittsburgh Weil K-5
Questions

Pittsburgh snow day questions

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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.