Colchester Supervisory District Snow Day Predictor

Q: When does Colchester call a snow day?

Colchester announces closings announced as soon as possible, preferably before 6:00 a.m, by its own published protocol.

Q: How does Colchester announce a snow day?

By phone call, email, text message, radio and local TV, and on the district’s own closings page.

Q: How long is a delayed start in Colchester?

2 hours: on a delay morning every school starts that much later.

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

June 15, 2027, on the district’s 2026 to 2027 calendar.

Q: How much snow does Colchester get?

About 78.8 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 5.9 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 7.5 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 3.2 with 4 inches or more.

Q: How does the Colchester snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Colchester 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 Colchester’s own big snow morning: 3.8 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 5.9 miles away.

The next three school mornings

Will Colchester close tomorrow?

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

The Colchester playbook

How Colchester calls a snow day

When the call comes

Announced as soon as possible, preferably before 6:00 a.m.

“Announcements in the morning will be made as soon as possible, preferably before 6:00 AM.”

Source

How families hear

By phone call, email, text message, radio and local TV.

“Telephone calls, e-mails, and SMS text messages will be sent out to all families through ParentSquare, our automated parent notification system. An announcement will be made on local radio and TV stations in Chittenden County.”

School Closings

A 2 hour delay

On a delay morning every school starts 2 hours late.

“Delayed opening will be for 2 hours. The morning Colchester Early Child Programs will be cancelled, but afternoon sessions will be held at their regularly scheduled times, including transportation.”

Delay schedule

Making up a lost day

Made up in June; June 16 to 22, 2027 are the potential make-up days after the June 15 earliest closing.

Make up dates: Jun 16, Jun 17, Jun 18, Jun 21, Jun 22.

“June 15: Earliest Possible Closing June 16-22: Make-up Days (for emergency closings)”

Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

First day August 26, 2026
Winter break Dec 24 to Jan 1
February break Feb 22 to Feb 26
Last day June 15, 2027

District calendar

Read from Colchester’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is csdvt.org.

Ten winters of school mornings

Colchester’s snow record

78.8inches of snow a winter

7.5school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

3.2with 4 in or more

3.8 ina big snow morning in Colchester: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

6school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

6.2Nov

13.4Dec

20.3Jan

20.2Feb

15.6Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 17.8 in on March 14, 2017
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 103.6 in
6 in mornings 1.5 a winter
1 in mornings 13.5 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 5.9 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 Vermont rule

How Vermont counts a lost day

Vermont requires at least 175 student attendance days a year, with the school board setting the length of the day. A school closed for a cause beyond the board's control may petition the State Board for a waiver, filed within 10 days of each closing and by June 15; if granted the district is treated as having met the requirement.

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

Next door

Districts near Colchester

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Burlington Supervisory DistrictBurlington	78.8 in	3.2
Essex-Westford Supervisory DistrictEssex Junction	78.8 in	3.2
South Burlington Supervisory DistrictSouth Burlington	78.8 in	3.2
Milton Supervisory DistrictMilton	75.3 in	1.9
Champlain Valley Supervisory DistrictShelburne	63.3 in	1.9
Franklin West Supervisory UnionFairfax	75.3 in	1.9

The schools

5 schools

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

High

Colchester High School

Middle

Colchester Middle School

Elementary

Porters Point School
Malletts Bay School
Union Memorial School

Questions

Colchester snow day questions

When does Colchester call a snow day?

How does Colchester announce a snow day?

How long is a delayed start in Colchester?

When is the last day of school for Colchester?

How much snow does Colchester get?

How does the Colchester snow day predictor work?

How does Vermont handle snow days?

More winter

More for Vermont 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.Vermont winter forecastThe season ahead for Vermont: 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.