Mercer County School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How many snow days does Mercer have built in?

6 for the 2026 to 2027 school year, listed on the calendar as “OS Day - Built in snow make-up day”.

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

June 7, 2027, on the district’s 2026 to 2027 calendar.

Q: How much snow does Princeton get?

About 16.5 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1.7 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 2 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 Mercer?

11.1 inches on March 25, 2018, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1.7 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2017 to 2018, with 29 inches.

Q: How does the Mercer snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Princeton 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 Mercer’s own big snow morning: 3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1.7 miles away.

The next three school mornings

Will Mercer close tomorrow?

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

The Mercer playbook

How Mercer calls a snow day

6 built in snow days

On the 2026 to 2027 calendar, listed as “OS Day - Built in snow make-up day”.

“OS Day - Built in snow make-up day”

Source

Making up a lost day

Six Friday OS days in March and April are built in snow make-up days; spring break days may also be taken to make up snow days.

Make up dates: Mar 19, Mar 26, Apr 9, Apr 16, Apr 23, Apr 30.

“Spring Break - These days may be taken to make-up snow days”

Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

First day August 20, 2026
Winter break Dec 23 to Jan 4
Last day June 7, 2027

District calendar

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Mercer’s snow record

16.5inches of snow a winter

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

0.5with 4 in or more

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

0.3Nov

3.7Dec

6.4Jan

2.5Feb

3.3Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 11.1 in on March 25, 2018
Snowiest winter 2017 to 2018, 29 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 3.5 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1.7 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 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 Mercer

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Summers County School DistrictHinton	9.5 in	0.3
McDowell County School DistrictWelch	9.2 in	0.3
Wyoming County School DistrictPineville	9.2 in	0.3
Raleigh County School DistrictBeckley	22.9 in	0.9
Monroe County School DistrictUnion	13.2 in	0.6
Greenbrier County School DistrictLewisburg	16.9 in	0.6

The schools

25 schools

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

High

Princeton Senior High School
Bluefield High School, Bluefield
Pikeview High School
Montcalm High School, Rock
Mercer County Technical Education Center

Middle

Pikeview Middle School
Princeton Middle School
Bluefield Middle School, Bluefield

Elementary

Glenwood School (K-8)
Princeton Primary School
Bluefield Primary School, Bluefield
Bluefield Intermediate School, Bluefield
Mountain Valley Elementary School, Bluefield
Montcalm Elementary School, Rock
Mercer Elementary
Melrose Elementary School
Athens Elementary School, Athens
Oakvale School
Spanishburg, Spanisburg
Lashmeet/Matoaka Elementary School, Matoaka
Brushfork Elementary School, Bluefield
Straley Elementary School
Bluewell Elementary School, Bluefield
Sun Valley Elementary School, Lerona

Other schools

Silver Springs Early Learning Center

Questions

Mercer snow day questions

How many snow days does Mercer have built in?

When is the last day of school for Mercer?

How much snow does Princeton get?

What was the biggest snow day near Mercer?

How does the Mercer 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.