St. Marys, West Virginia, 1,053 students in 5 schools

Pleasants County School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does St. Marys get?

About 15.3 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1.1 miles away, averaged over 7 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 1.6 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 Pleasants?

8 inches on January 17, 2022, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1.1 miles away in 7 winters. The snowiest winter was 2021 to 2022, with 30.1 inches.

Q: How does the Pleasants snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for St. Marys 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 Pleasants’s own big snow morning: 2.7 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1.1 miles away.

Q: Can West Virginia schools hold a remote day instead?

Under a state approved county plan, work assigned and graded on days closed for weather counts for up to 25 hours of instructional time.

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Pleasants, measured against Pleasants's own big snow morning of 2.7 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Pleasants close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Pleasants’s snow record

15.3inches of snow a winter

1.6school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

0.3with 4 in or more

2.7 ina big snow morning in Pleasants: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

1.6school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

0.2Nov

2.8Dec

6.1Jan

4.1Feb

1.8Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8 in on January 17, 2022
Snowiest winter 2021 to 2022, 30.1 in
6 in mornings 0.1 a winter
1 in mornings 4.4 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 1.1 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 Pleasants

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Ritchie County School DistrictHarrisville	14.3 in	0.8
Tyler County School DistrictMiddlebourne	14.9 in	0.2
Wood County School DistrictParkersburg	7.5 in	0
Doddridge County School DistrictWest Union	9.8 in	0.3
Wetzel County School DistrictNew Martinsville	12.9 in	0.2
Roane County School DistrictSpencer	16.4 in	0.8

The schools

5 schools

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

High

St. Marys High School, Saint Marys
Mid Ohio Valley Technical Institute, Saint Marys

Middle

Pleasants County Middle School, Belmont

Elementary

Belmont Elementary School, Belmont
St. Marys Elementary School, Saint Marys

Questions

Pleasants snow day questions

How much snow does St. Marys get?

What was the biggest snow day near Pleasants?

How does the Pleasants snow day predictor work?

How does West Virginia handle snow days?

Can West Virginia schools hold a remote day instead?

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.