Pearisburg, Virginia, 3,499 students in 7 schools

Giles County Public Schools Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Pearisburg get?

About 11 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 4.7 miles away, averaged over 8 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.3 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.1 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Giles?

10 inches on March 25, 2018, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 4.7 miles away in 8 winters. The snowiest winter was 2017 to 2018, with 19.1 inches.

Q: How does the Giles snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Pearisburg 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 Giles’s own big snow morning: 3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 4.7 miles away.

Q: Can Virginia schools hold a remote day instead?

A division can declare an unscheduled remote learning day when weather closes buildings, up to 10 a year unless the state superintendent extends it, without losing state aid.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Giles, measured against Giles's own big snow morning of 3 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Giles close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Giles’s snow record

11inches of snow a winter

1.3school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.1with 4 in or more

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

0.3school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

0Nov

1.5Dec

5Jan

1.9Feb

2.5Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 10 in on March 25, 2018
Snowiest winter 2017 to 2018, 19.1 in
6 in mornings 0 a winter
1 in mornings 2.5 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 4.7 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 Giles

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Radford City Public SchoolsRadford	5.9 in	0.2
Pulaski County Public SchoolsPulaski	10.9 in	0.2
Montgomery County Public SchoolsChristiansburg	13.3 in	0.2
Wythe County Public SchoolsWytheville	13.3 in	0.3
Carroll County Public SchoolsHillsville	10.9 in	0.4
Roanoke County Public SchoolsRoanoke	9 in	0

The schools

7 schools

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

High

Giles High
Narrows High, Narrows

Elementary

Narrows Elementary/Middle, Narrows
Macy Mcclaugherty Elementary/Middle
Eastern Elementary/Middle, Pembroke

Other schools

Giles County K-12 Virtual School
Giles County Tech. Center

Questions

Giles snow day questions

How much snow does Pearisburg get?

What was the biggest snow day near Giles?

How does the Giles snow day predictor work?

How does Virginia handle snow days?

Can Virginia schools hold a remote day instead?

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.