Saint Marys, Pennsylvania, 1,838 students in 4 schools

St. Marys Area School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Saint Marys get?

About 47.5 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 10.3 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 6.3 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near St. Marys?

13.2 inches on December 17, 2020, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 10.3 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2017 to 2018, with 70.7 inches.

Q: How does the St. Marys snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Saint Marys 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 St. Marys’s own big snow morning: 3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 10.3 miles away.

Q: Can Pennsylvania schools hold a remote day instead?

A district with a PDE accepted plan can turn up to five closure days a year, including snow days, into Flexible Instructional Days that count as school days; they can be online, offline or both.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in St. Marys, measured against St. Marys's own big snow morning of 3 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will St. Marys close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

St. Marys’s snow record

47.5inches of snow a winter

6.3school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1with 4 in or more

3 ina big snow morning in St. Marys: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

5.2school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

3.6Nov

10.2Dec

14.9Jan

10.8Feb

6Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 13.2 in on December 17, 2020
Snowiest winter 2017 to 2018, 70.7 in
6 in mornings 0.3 a winter
1 in mornings 13.7 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 10.3 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 St. Marys

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
DuBois Area School DistrictDuBois	56.6 in	1.4
Clearfield Area School DistrictClearfield	56.6 in	1.4
Brookville Area School DistrictBrookville	27.9 in	1.2
Punxsutawney Area School DistrictPunxsutawney	27.9 in	1.2
Bradford Area School DistrictBradford	75.2 in	2.6
Philipsburg-Osceola Area School DistrictPhilipsburg	41.8 in	1.1

The schools

4 schools

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

High

St Marys Area SHS

Middle

St Marys Area MS

Elementary

South St Marys Street El Sch
Fox Twp El Sch, Kersey

Questions

St. Marys snow day questions

How much snow does Saint Marys get?

What was the biggest snow day near St. Marys?

How does the St. Marys snow day predictor work?

How does Pennsylvania handle snow days?

Can Pennsylvania schools hold a remote day instead?

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.