Meade School District 46-1 Snow Day Predictor

Q: How many snow days does Meade have built in?

3 for the 2026 to 2027 school year, listed on the calendar as “Snow Make-Up Day (No School)”.

Q: When is the last day of school for Meade?

May 25, 2027, on the district’s 2026 to 2027 calendar.

Q: How much snow does Sturgis get?

About 45 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1.8 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 5.4 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.3 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Meade?

12 inches on November 30, 2019, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1.8 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2019 to 2020, with 75.5 inches.

Q: How does the Meade snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Sturgis 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 Meade’s own big snow morning: 4 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1.8 miles away.

The next three school mornings

Will Meade close tomorrow?

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

The Meade playbook

How Meade calls a snow day

3 built in snow days

On the 2026 to 2027 calendar, listed as “Snow Make-Up Day (No School)”.

“**Snow make up days shall be April 9, April 30, and May 14 and up to 3 days at the end of the year.”

Source

Making up a lost day

Snow days made up on April 9, April 30 and May 14, then up to 3 days at the end of the year.

“**Snow make up days shall be April 9, April 30, and May 14 and up to 3 days at the end of the year.”

Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

First day August 27, 2026
Winter break Dec 23 to Jan 1
Last day May 25, 2027

District calendar

Read from Meade’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is meade.k12.sd.us.

Ten winters of school mornings

Meade’s snow record

45inches of snow a winter

5.4school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.3with 4 in or more

4 ina big snow morning in Meade: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

10.7school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

4.3Nov

6.8Dec

5.7Jan

10.1Feb

7.6Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 12 in on November 30, 2019
Snowiest winter 2019 to 2020, 75.5 in
6 in mornings 0.2 a winter
1 in mornings 10 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1.8 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 South Dakota rule

How South Dakota counts a lost day

South Dakota requires at least 437.5 hours for kindergarten, 875 hours for grades 1 to 5 and 962.5 hours for grades 6 to 12; the local board sets the number of days. The Secretary of Education may waive the minimum hours when the Governor or the President declares a state of emergency covering the school; there is no fixed count of forgiven days.

The South Dakota rules in the agency’s own words, and every South Dakota district

Next door

Districts near Meade

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Rapid City School District 51-4Rapid City	50.1 in	1.4	2
Douglas School District 51-1Box Elder	50.1 in	1.4	2
Aberdeen School District 06-1Aberdeen	33.2 in	1.3
Huron School District 02-2Huron	39.5 in	1.4
Mitchell School District 17-2Mitchell	37.2 in	2
Watertown School District 14-4Watertown	36.8 in	1.1

The schools

11 schools

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

High

Sturgis Brown High School - 01

Middle

Sturgis Williams Middle School - 02
Stagebarn Middle School - 10, Summerset

Elementary

Sturgis Elementary - 03
Piedmont Valley Elementary - 05, Piedmont
Whitewood Elementary - 04, Whitewood
Central Meade County School - 09, Union Center
Opal Elementary - 15, Opal
Hereford Elementary - 08, Hereford
Elm Springs Elementary - 13, Wasta
Atall Elementary - 17, Union Center

Questions

Meade snow day questions

How many snow days does Meade have built in?

When is the last day of school for Meade?

How much snow does Sturgis get?

What was the biggest snow day near Meade?

How does the Meade snow day predictor work?

How does South Dakota handle snow days?

More winter

More for South Dakota 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.South Dakota winter forecastThe season ahead for South Dakota: 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.