Center Valley, Pennsylvania, 3,047 students in 5 schools

Southern Lehigh School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Center Valley get?

About 33.8 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 7 miles away, averaged over 9 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 3.2 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.9 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Southern Lehigh?

22.8 inches on February 2, 2021, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 7 miles away in 9 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 66.2 inches.

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

Southern Lehigh averages 1.9 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 87 percent of the 490 Pennsylvania districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Southern Lehigh snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Center Valley 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 Southern Lehigh’s own big snow morning: 4.5 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 7 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Southern Lehigh, measured against Southern Lehigh's own big snow morning of 4.5 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Southern Lehigh close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Southern Lehigh’s snow record

33.8inches of snow a winter

3.2school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.9with 4 in or more

4.5 ina big snow morning in Southern Lehigh: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

0.8school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 87% of the 490 Pennsylvania districts with a station record.

1.1Nov

4.6Dec

7Jan

12.4Feb

7.9Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 22.8 in on February 2, 2021
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 66.2 in
6 in mornings 0.8 a winter
1 in mornings 6 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 7 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 Southern Lehigh

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Salisbury Township School DistrictAllentown	27.8 in	0.9
Saucon Valley School DistrictHellertown	33.8 in	1.9
East Penn School DistrictEmmaus	27.8 in	0.9	2
Allentown City School DistrictAllentown	27.8 in	0.9
Quakertown Community School DistrictQuakertown	18.3 in	1.2
Bethlehem Area School DistrictBethlehem	27.8 in	0.9

The schools

5 schools

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

High

Southern Lehigh SHS

Middle

Southern Lehigh Intermediate Sch, Bethlehem
Southern Lehigh MS

Elementary

Liberty Bell El Sch, Coopersburg
Hopewell El Sch

Questions

Southern Lehigh snow day questions

How much snow does Center Valley get?

What was the biggest snow day near Southern Lehigh?

Does Southern Lehigh get more snow days than other Pennsylvania districts?

How does the Southern Lehigh 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.