The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Elkhorn, measured against Elkhorn's own big snow morning of 3 inches.
The next three school mornings
Will Elkhorn close tomorrow?
Reading the National Weather Service forecast for the overnight and the bus hours in Elkhorn.
Ten winters of school mornings
Elkhorn’s snow record
34.2inches of snow a winter
3.2school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more
1.1with 4 in or more
3 ina big snow morning in Elkhorn: the top tenth of snowy school mornings
4.2Nov
4.2Dec
12Jan
7.3Feb
4.1Mar
Average snowfall by month, inches
Biggest day 8.5 in on January 13, 2024
Snowiest winter 2022 to 2023, 42.4 in
6 in mornings 0 a winter
1 in mornings 6.1 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 Elkhorn follows the district’s call: one closing covers them all.
High
Elkhorn Area High
Career and College Academy
Middle
Elkhorn Area Middle
Elementary
Jackson Elementary
Tibbets Elementary
West Side Elementary
Other schools
Elkhorn Options Virtual School
Questions
Elkhorn snow day questions
About 34.2 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station under a mile away, averaged over 9 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 3.2 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.1 with 4 inches or more.
8.5 inches on January 13, 2024, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station under a mile away in 9 winters. The snowiest winter was 2022 to 2023, with 42.4 inches.
It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Elkhorn 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 Elkhorn’s own big snow morning: 3 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.
