The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Columbus, measured against Columbus's own big snow morning of 4 inches.
The next three school mornings
Will Columbus close tomorrow?
Reading the National Weather Service forecast for the overnight and the bus hours in Columbus.
Ten winters of school mornings
Columbus’s snow record
39.1inches of snow a winter
5.2school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more
1.4with 4 in or more
4 ina big snow morning in Columbus: the top tenth of snowy school mornings
3Nov
7.6Dec
12.3Jan
8.1Feb
5.5Mar
Average snowfall by month, inches
Biggest day 11 in on November 30, 2025
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 52.4 in
6 in mornings 0.4 a winter
1 in mornings 7.5 a winter
Measured at a NOAA weather station under a mile 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.
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The Wisconsin rule
How Wisconsin counts a lost day
Wisconsin requires hours, not days: 437 for kindergarten, 1,050 for grades 1 to 6 and 1,137 for grades 7 to 12.
Every school in Columbus follows the district’s call: one closing covers them all.
High
Columbus High
Middle
Columbus Middle
Elementary
Columbus Elementary
Discovery Charter School
Questions
Columbus snow day questions
About 39.1 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station under a mile away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 5.2 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.4 with 4 inches or more.
11 inches on November 30, 2025, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station under a mile away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 52.4 inches.
It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Columbus 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 Columbus’s own big snow morning: 4 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station under a mile away.
Wisconsin requires hours, not days: 437 for kindergarten, 1,050 for grades 1 to 6 and 1,137 for grades 7 to 12.
If a district offers make-up instruction virtually on a weather closure, those hours can count; the rule sets no cap on such days.
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.
