Wales, Wisconsin, 3,421 students in 12 schools

Kettle Moraine School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Wales get?

About 37.5 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 5.9 miles away, averaged over 9 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 3.1 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.3 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Kettle Moraine?

8.2 inches on March 10, 2023, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 5.9 miles away in 9 winters. The snowiest winter was 2022 to 2023, with 50.8 inches.

Q: How does the Kettle Moraine snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Wales 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 Kettle Moraine’s own big snow morning: 3.8 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 5.9 miles away.

Q: Can Wisconsin schools hold a remote day instead?

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 odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Kettle Moraine, measured against Kettle Moraine's own big snow morning of 3.8 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Kettle Moraine close tomorrow?

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

Ten winters of school mornings

Kettle Moraine’s snow record

37.5inches of snow a winter

3.1school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.3with 4 in or more

3.8 ina big snow morning in Kettle Moraine: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

4.1Nov

4.4Dec

11.2Jan

8.6Feb

5.3Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8.2 in on March 10, 2023
Snowiest winter 2022 to 2023, 50.8 in
6 in mornings 0.3 a winter
1 in mornings 5.9 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 5.9 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 Kettle Moraine

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings	Built in days
Arrowhead Union High School DistrictHartland	36.2 in	1.5
Pewaukee School DistrictPewaukee	37.5 in	1.3
Waukesha School DistrictWaukesha	31.5 in	1.4	4
Oconomowoc Area School DistrictOconomowoc	37.2 in	1.1
Mukwonago School DistrictMukwonago	31.6 in	1.1
Hamilton School DistrictSussex	40.4 in	1.1

The schools

12 schools

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

High

Kettle Moraine High
High School of Health Sciences
School for Arts and Performance
KM Global Sch
KM Connect

Middle

Kettle Moraine Middle, Dousman

Elementary

Wales Elementary
Dousman Elementary, Dousman
Cushing Elementary, Delafield
Magee Elementary, Genesee Depot
Kettle Moraine Explore

Other schools

Kettle Moraine 4K, Delafield

Questions

Kettle Moraine snow day questions

How much snow does Wales get?

What was the biggest snow day near Kettle Moraine?

How does the Kettle Moraine snow day predictor work?

How does Wisconsin handle snow days?

Can Wisconsin schools hold a remote day instead?

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.