Watertown School District 14-4 Snow Day Predictor

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

May 26, 2027, on the district’s 2026 to 2027 calendar.

Q: How much snow does Watertown get?

About 36.8 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station under a mile away, averaged over 7 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 2.9 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.1 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Watertown?

10 inches on March 13, 2017, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station under a mile away in 7 winters. The snowiest winter was 2017 to 2018, with 53.1 inches.

Q: How does the Watertown snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Watertown 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 Watertown’s own big snow morning: 3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station under a mile away.

The next three school mornings

Will Watertown close tomorrow?

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

The Watertown playbook

How Watertown calls a snow day

How families hear

By radio, local TV, the district website and the district app.

“Please listen to local radio & TV stations, or check on the school website. Download the WSD App & allow push notifications.”

Watertown School District 2026-2027 Calendar (Procedures for Winter Storm Emergencies)

Making up a lost day

Make-up days in the printed order: August 19 and 20 (year not stated), then May 27 and 28, then June 1 to 4.

Make up dates: May 27, May 28, Jun 1, Jun 2, Jun 3, Jun 4.

“Make-up days will be made up in this order: August 19, 20, May 27, 28, June 1, 2, 3, 4”

Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

First day August 25, 2026
Winter break Dec 24 to Jan 3
Last day May 26, 2027

District calendar

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Watertown’s snow record

36.8inches of snow a winter

2.9school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.1with 4 in or more

3 ina big snow morning in Watertown: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

3.4Nov

7.6Dec

5.2Jan

5.6Feb

9.3Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 10 in on March 13, 2017
Snowiest winter 2017 to 2018, 53.1 in
6 in mornings 0.6 a winter
1 in mornings 5.9 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station under a mile 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 Watertown

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Brookings School District 05-1Brookings	37.5 in	1.2
Huron School District 02-2Huron	39.5 in	1.4
Aberdeen School District 06-1Aberdeen	33.2 in	1.3
Mitchell School District 17-2Mitchell	37.2 in	2
Brandon Valley School District 49-2Brandon	43.1 in	1.3	1
Sioux Falls School District 49-5Sioux Falls	44.9 in	1.9

The schools

9 schools

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

High

Watertown High School - 01

Middle

Watertown Middle School - 02
Watertown Intermediate School - 13

Elementary

Lincoln Elementary - 05
Jefferson Elementary - 09
McKinley Elementary - 06
Mellette Elementary - 07
Roosevelt Elementary - 08
Sunrise Colony - 15, Summit

Questions

Watertown snow day questions

How does Watertown announce a snow day?

When is the last day of school for Watertown?

How much snow does Watertown get?

What was the biggest snow day near Watertown?

How does the Watertown 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.