Winchester, Virginia, 4,236 students in 7 schools

Winchester City Public Schools Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Winchester get?

About 9.9 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 5.8 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.8 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 Winchester?

7 inches on December 17, 2020, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 5.8 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2020 to 2021, with 19.7 inches.

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

Winchester 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 Winchester snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Winchester 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 Winchester’s own big snow morning: 4 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 5.8 miles away.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Winchester, measured against Winchester's own big snow morning of 4 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Winchester close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Winchester’s snow record

9.9inches of snow a winter

1.8school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.4with 4 in or more

4 ina big snow morning in Winchester: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

0.9school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

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

0.3Nov

0.8Dec

5Jan

2.2Feb

1.6Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 7 in on December 17, 2020
Snowiest winter 2020 to 2021, 19.7 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 2.5 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 5.8 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 Winchester

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Frederick County Public SchoolsWinchester	9.9 in	0.4
Warren County Public SchoolsFront Royal	6.9 in	0.3
Shenandoah County Public SchoolsWoodstock	14.3 in	0.7
Loudoun County Public SchoolsAshburn	12.1 in	0.8
Fauquier County Public SchoolsWarrenton	10 in	0.3
Page County Public SchoolsLuray	11.4 in	0.9

The schools

7 schools

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

High

John Handley High

Middle

Daniel Morgan Intermediate
Daniel Morgan Middle

Elementary

John Kerr Elementary
Virginia Avenue Charlotte Dehart Elementary
Garland R. Quarles Elementary
Frederick Douglass Elementary

Questions

Winchester snow day questions

How much snow does Winchester get?

What was the biggest snow day near Winchester?

Does Winchester get more snow days than other Virginia districts?

How does the Winchester 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.