Honesdale, Pennsylvania, 2,364 students in 6 schools

Wayne Highlands School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Honesdale get?

About 54.8 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 15.8 miles away, averaged over 8 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 7 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 3.3 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Wayne Highlands?

21 inches on March 15, 2017, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 15.8 miles away in 8 winters. The snowiest winter was 2016 to 2017, with 104 inches.

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

Wayne Highlands averages 3.3 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 97 percent of the 490 Pennsylvania districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Wayne Highlands snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Honesdale 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 Wayne Highlands’s own big snow morning: 5.7 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 15.8 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Wayne Highlands, measured against Wayne Highlands's own big snow morning of 5.7 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Wayne Highlands close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Wayne Highlands’s snow record

54.8inches of snow a winter

7school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

3.3with 4 in or more

5.7 ina big snow morning in Wayne Highlands: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

5.1school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 97% of the 490 Pennsylvania districts with a station record.

5.2Nov

15Dec

11.4Jan

12.4Feb

9.1Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 21 in on March 15, 2017
Snowiest winter 2016 to 2017, 104 in
6 in mornings 1.5 a winter
1 in mornings 10.4 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 15.8 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 Wayne Highlands

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Wallenpaupack Area School DistrictHawley	48.7 in	2.1
Western Wayne School DistrictLake Ariel	54.8 in	3.3
Carbondale Area School DistrictCarbondale	54.8 in	3.3
Valley View School DistrictArchbald	35.1 in	0.9
Lakeland School DistrictScott Township	54.8 in	3.3
Mid Valley School DistrictThroop	35.1 in	0.9

The schools

6 schools

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

High

Honesdale HS

Middle

Wayne Highlands MS

Elementary

Lakeside Elementary School
Stourbridge Primary Ctr
Damascus Area Sch, Damascus
Preston Sch, Lakewood

Questions

Wayne Highlands snow day questions

How much snow does Honesdale get?

What was the biggest snow day near Wayne Highlands?

Does Wayne Highlands get more snow days than other Pennsylvania districts?

How does the Wayne Highlands 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.