Orange, Virginia, 5,076 students in 10 schools

Orange County Public Schools Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Orange get?

About 6.1 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1 mile away, averaged over 8 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.5 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Orange?

7 inches on December 10, 2018, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1 mile away in 8 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 17 inches.

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

Orange averages 0.5 weekday mornings a winter with 4 inches of new snow or more, more than 70 percent of the 116 Virginia districts with a station record.

Q: How does the Orange snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Orange 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 Orange’s own big snow morning: 5.4 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1 mile away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Orange, measured against Orange's own big snow morning of 5.4 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Orange close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Orange’s snow record

6.1inches of snow a winter

1school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.5with 4 in or more

5.4 ina big snow morning in Orange: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

0school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

More 4 inch school mornings than 70% of the 116 Virginia districts with a station record.

0Nov

1.3Dec

3Jan

1.7Feb

0.2Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 7 in on December 10, 2018
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 17 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 1.3 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1 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 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 Orange

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Culpeper County Public SchoolsCulpeper	10 in	0.3
Louisa County Public SchoolsMineral	10.6 in	0.4
Charlottesville City Public SchoolsCharlottesville	10.6 in	0.7
Albemarle County Public SchoolsCharlottesville	10.6 in	0.7
Fluvanna County Public SchoolsPalmyra	10.6 in	0.7
Spotsylvania County Public SchoolsFredericksburg	6.3 in	0.4

The schools

10 schools

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

High

Orange County High

Middle

Locust Grove Middle, Locust Grove
Prospect Heights Middle

Elementary

Orange Elementary
Locust Grove Elementary, Locust Grove
Locust Grove Primary, Locust Grove
Gordon-Barbour Elementary, Gordonsville
Unionville Elementary, Unionville
Lightfoot Elementary, Unionville

Other schools

Turning Point Alternative Education

Questions

Orange snow day questions

How much snow does Orange get?

What was the biggest snow day near Orange?

Does Orange get more snow days than other Virginia districts?

How does the Orange 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.