Elmbrook School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: When does Elmbrook call a snow day?

Elmbrook announces closings before 5:30am, by its own published protocol.

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

2 for the 2026 to 2027 school year, listed on the calendar as “School Closing Make-Up: No Student Instruction”.

Q: Does Elmbrook switch to remote learning on a snow day?

It can. Elmbrook has virtual learning days in its winter plan. When a closing gets likely, the morning here reads "Snow day or remote day".

Q: How long is a delayed start in Elmbrook?

2 hours: on a delay morning every school starts that much later.

Q: How does the Elmbrook snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Brookfield 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 Elmbrook’s own big snow morning: 3.5 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 3.3 miles away.

The next three school mornings

Will Elmbrook close tomorrow?

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

The Elmbrook playbook

How Elmbrook calls a snow day

When the call comes

Before 5:30am.

“Typically, a decision to close school is made before 5:30am in order to give parents, students and the bus company enough time to respond.”

Source

How families hear

By the district website, local TV, radio, phone call, email and text message.

“Each household will receive a phone call and e-mail message via SchoolMessenger, typically between 5:30am – 5:45am. Text messages are also available through SchoolMessenger.”

School Closing Information - School District of Elmbrook

A 2 hour delay

On a delay morning every school starts 2 hours late.

“When school is delayed by two hours, the middle schools will begin at 9:18 AM, the high schools will begin at 9:55 AM, the elementary schools will begin at 10:50 AM. Regular school closing times will be observed on delayed opening days.”

Delay schedule

2 built in snow days

On the 2026 to 2027 calendar, listed as “School Closing Make-Up: No Student Instruction”.

“School Closing Make-Up 1st No Student Instruction 2nd No Student Instruction 3rd+ Virtual Instruction”

Source

Virtual learning days

Elmbrook has virtual learning days in its winter plan.

“3rd+ Virtual Instruction”

Source

Making up a lost day

The first two closings are not made up; the third and later become virtual instruction.

“School Closing Make-Up 1st No Student Instruction 2nd No Student Instruction 3rd+ Virtual Instruction”

Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

First day September 1, 2026
Winter break Dec 21 to Jan 1
Last day June 10, 2027

District calendar

Read from Elmbrook’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is elmbrookschools.org.

Ten winters of school mornings

Elmbrook’s snow record

34.3inches of snow a winter

3.8school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.2with 4 in or more

3.5 ina big snow morning in Elmbrook: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

8.4school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

2.5Nov

6.6Dec

10.2Jan

7.7Feb

5Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 10 in on November 30, 2025
Snowiest winter 2022 to 2023, 47.4 in
6 in mornings 0.5 a winter
1 in mornings 6.4 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 3.3 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 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.

The Wisconsin rules in the agency’s own words, and every Wisconsin district

Next door

Districts near Elmbrook

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Wauwatosa School DistrictWauwatosa	42 in	1.9
Hamilton School DistrictSussex	40.4 in	1.1
Menomonee Falls School DistrictMenomonee Falls	49.9 in	1.9
Pewaukee School DistrictPewaukee	37.5 in	1.3
West Allis School DistrictWest Allis	42 in	1.9
Waukesha School DistrictWaukesha	31.5 in	1.4	4

The schools

10 schools

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

High

Brookfield East High
Brookfield Central High
Fairview South

Middle

Pilgrim Park Middle, Elm Grove
Wisconsin Hills Middle

Elementary

Burleigh Elementary
Swanson Elementary
Brookfield Elementary
Dixon Elementary
Tonawanda Elementary, Elm Grove

Questions

Elmbrook snow day questions

When does Elmbrook call a snow day?

How does Elmbrook announce a snow day?

How many snow days does Elmbrook have built in?

Does Elmbrook switch to remote learning on a snow day?

How long is a delayed start in Elmbrook?

How does the Elmbrook snow day predictor work?

How does Wisconsin handle snow days?

More winter

More for Wisconsin 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.Wisconsin winter forecastThe season ahead for Wisconsin: 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.