Hillsville, Virginia, 3,442 students in 11 schools

Carroll County Public Schools Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Hillsville get?

About 10.9 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 12.8 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.1 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.4 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Carroll?

15 inches on December 10, 2018, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 12.8 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 24.2 inches.

Q: Does Carroll get more snow days than other Virginia districts?

Carroll averages 0.4 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 50 percent of the 116 Virginia districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Carroll snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Hillsville 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 Carroll’s own big snow morning: 3.8 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 12.8 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Carroll, measured against Carroll's own big snow morning of 3.8 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Carroll close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Carroll’s snow record

10.9inches of snow a winter

1.1school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.4with 4 in or more

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

0.2school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 50% of the 116 Virginia districts with a station record.

0Nov

3.3Dec

4.7Jan

1.2Feb

1.5Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 15 in on December 10, 2018
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 24.2 in
6 in mornings 0.2 a winter
1 in mornings 2.4 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 12.8 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 Virginia rule

How Virginia counts a lost day

Virginia requires at least 180 teaching days or 990 teaching hours, or state aid is reduced. After 5 closures, only one of every two further days must be made up; the Board of Education can also waive make-up when every reasonable effort is exhausted.

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

Next door

Districts near Carroll

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Pulaski County Public SchoolsPulaski	10.9 in	0.2
Wythe County Public SchoolsWytheville	13.3 in	0.3
Radford City Public SchoolsRadford	5.9 in	0.2
Montgomery County Public SchoolsChristiansburg	13.3 in	0.2
Giles County Public SchoolsPearisburg	11 in	0.1
Smyth County Public SchoolsMarion	8.2 in	0.3

The schools

11 schools

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

High

Carroll County High

Middle

Carroll County Middle

Elementary

Hillsville Elementary
St. Paul, Cana
Gladeville Elementary, Galax
Laurel Elementary, Austinville
Oakland Elementary, Galax
Fancy Gap Elementary, Fancy Gap
Gladesboro Elementary

Other schools

Blue Ridge Crossroads Governor's Academy for Technical Educa
Carroll County Education Center

Questions

Carroll snow day questions

How much snow does Hillsville get?

What was the biggest snow day near Carroll?

Does Carroll get more snow days than other Virginia districts?

How does the Carroll snow day predictor work?

How does Virginia handle snow days?

More winter

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