McDowell County School District Snow Day Predictor

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

May 28, 2027, on the district’s 2026 to 2027 calendar.

Q: How much snow does Welch get?

About 9.2 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 16.8 miles away, averaged over 8 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.5 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 0.3 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near McDowell?

8 inches on December 10, 2018, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 16.8 miles away in 8 winters. The snowiest winter was 2021 to 2022, with 21.1 inches.

Q: How does the McDowell snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Welch 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 McDowell’s own big snow morning: 3.1 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 16.8 miles away.

The next three school mornings

Will McDowell close tomorrow?

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

The McDowell playbook

How McDowell calls a snow day

Making up a lost day

Outside school environment days June 1 to 7, 2027 may be converted to instructional days.

Make up dates: Jun 1, Jun 2, Jun 3, Jun 4, Jun 7.

“*OSE days may be converted to instructional Days.”

Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

First day August 24, 2026
Winter break Dec 23 to Jan 1
Last day May 28, 2027

District calendar

Recent snow days

2025 to 2026. Closed Wednesday, January 28, 2026 as a promised snow day after students won a virtual snowball battle.
“Schools kept their word and McDowell County schools will be closed on Wednesday, January 28, 2026.”
News report

Read from McDowell’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is boe.mcdo.k12.wv.us.

Ten winters of school mornings

McDowell’s snow record

9.2inches of snow a winter

1.5school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.3with 4 in or more

3.1 ina big snow morning in McDowell: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

0.5school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

0.3Nov

1.5Dec

4.8Jan

1.5Feb

1Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8 in on December 10, 2018
Snowiest winter 2021 to 2022, 21.1 in
6 in mornings 0.3 a winter
1 in mornings 2.6 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 16.8 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 West Virginia rule

How West Virginia counts a lost day

West Virginia requires at least 900 instructional hours a year, with each county setting the length of its days. The State Superintendent may lower the minimum in a county under a federal disaster declaration or a Governor's emergency declaration tied to the lost hours.

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

Next door

Districts near McDowell

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Wyoming County School DistrictPineville	9.2 in	0.3
Mercer County School DistrictPrinceton	16.5 in	0.5	6
Raleigh County School DistrictBeckley	22.9 in	0.9
Logan County School DistrictWest Logan	5.8 in	0.4
Mingo County School DistrictWilliamson	12.6 in	0.3
Summers County School DistrictHinton	9.5 in	0.3

The schools

10 schools

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

High

Mount View High School
River View High School, Bradshaw
Mcdowell Career & Technology Center

Middle

Sandy River Middle School, Bradshaw

Elementary

Southside K-8, War
Bradshaw Elementary School, Bradshaw
Iaeger Elementary School, Iaeger
Welch Elementary School
Kimball Elementary School, Kimball
Fall River Elementary School, Big Sandy

Questions

McDowell snow day questions

When is the last day of school for McDowell?

How much snow does Welch get?

What was the biggest snow day near McDowell?

How does the McDowell snow day predictor work?

How does West Virginia handle snow days?

More winter

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