Hinton, West Virginia, 1,213 students in 4 schools

Summers County School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Hinton get?

About 9.5 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 2.3 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 0.3 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Summers?

15 inches on December 10, 2018, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 2.3 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 20.3 inches.

Q: How does the Summers snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Hinton 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 Summers’s own big snow morning: 3 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 2.3 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 Summers, measured against Summers's own big snow morning of 3 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Summers close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Summers’s snow record

9.5inches of snow a winter

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

0.3with 4 in or more

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

0Nov

2.6Dec

3.8Jan

2.1Feb

1.1Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 15 in on December 10, 2018
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 20.3 in
6 in mornings 0.2 a winter
1 in mornings 3 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 2.3 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 Summers

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Raleigh County School DistrictBeckley	22.9 in	0.9
Monroe County School DistrictUnion	13.2 in	0.6
Mercer County School DistrictPrinceton	16.5 in	0.5	6
Greenbrier County School DistrictLewisburg	16.9 in	0.6
Fayette County School DistrictFayetteville	15.6 in	0.6
Wyoming County School DistrictPineville	9.2 in	0.3

The schools

4 schools

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

High

6-12 Summers County Comprehensive HS

Elementary

Hinton Area Elementary
Talcott Elementary School, Talcott
Jumping Branch Elementary School, Jumping Branch

Questions

Summers snow day questions

How much snow does Hinton get?

What was the biggest snow day near Summers?

How does the Summers 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.