Stafford County Public Schools Snow Day Predictor

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

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

Q: How much snow does Stafford get?

About 9 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 11.8 miles away, averaged over 10 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 Stafford?

11 inches on January 4, 2022, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 11.8 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2021 to 2022, with 18.1 inches.

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

Stafford 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 Stafford snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Stafford 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 Stafford’s own big snow morning: 4.1 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 11.8 miles away.

The next three school mornings

Will Stafford close tomorrow?

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

The Stafford playbook

How Stafford calls a snow day

Making up a lost day

Non-school days converted to school days, listed as Feb 12, Feb 15 and Mar 29, after 48 banked hours are used.

“Should the school year fall below the required instructional days or hours, the difference may be made up by converting non-school days to school days, February 12, February 15, March 29”

Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

First day August 12, 2026
Winter break Dec 21 to Jan 1
Last day May 26, 2027

District calendar

Read from Stafford’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is staffordschools.net.

Ten winters of school mornings

Stafford’s snow record

9inches of snow a winter

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

0.5with 4 in or more

4.1 ina big snow morning in Stafford: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

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

0Nov

1.2Dec

4.8Jan

2.2Feb

0.8Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 11 in on January 4, 2022
Snowiest winter 2021 to 2022, 18.1 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 2.1 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 11.8 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 Stafford

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Fredericksburg City Public SchoolsFredericksburg	9 in	0.5
Prince William County Public SchoolsManassas	10.2 in	0.4
King George County Public SchoolsKing George	9 in	0.5
Spotsylvania County Public SchoolsFredericksburg	6.3 in	0.4
Manassas City Public SchoolsManassas	10.2 in	0.4
Manassas Park City Public SchoolsManassas Park	10.2 in	0.4

The schools

34 schools

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

High

Brooke Point High
Stafford Senior High, Fredericksburg
Mountain View High
North Stafford High
Colonial Forge High

Middle

Rodney E. Thompson Middle
H.H. Poole Middle
Shirley C. Heim Middle
Stafford Middle
T. Benton Gayle Middle, Fredericksburg
Donald B. Dixon-Lyle R. Smith Middle, Fredericksburg
Andrew G. Wright Middle
Edward E. Drew Jr. Middle, Falmouth

Elementary

Conway Elementary, Fredericksburg
Rocky Run Elementary, Fredericksburg
Hampton Oaks Elementary
Park Ridge Elementary
Anne E. Moncure Elementary
Winding Creek Elementary
Stafford Elementary
Margaret Brent Elementary
Kate Waller Barrett Elementary
Garrisonville Elementary
Anthony Burns Elementary
Grafton Village Elementary, Falmouth
Falmouth Elementary, Falmouth
Widewater Elementary
Rockhill Elementary
Hartwood Elementary, Hartwood
Ferry Farm Elementary, Fredericksburg

Other schools

Rising Star Early Childhood Education Center at Melchers, Fredericksburg
North Star Early Childhood Education Center
Phoenix Center for Innovative Learning, Fredericksburg
Stafford Academy for Technolgy (STAT)

Questions

Stafford snow day questions

When is the last day of school for Stafford?

How much snow does Stafford get?

What was the biggest snow day near Stafford?

Does Stafford get more snow days than other Virginia districts?

How does the Stafford 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.