Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, 2,686 students in 6 schools

Sauk Prairie School District Snow Day Predictor

Q: How much snow does Prairie du Sac get?

About 32.1 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 2 miles away, averaged over 10 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 3.4 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.1 with 4 inches or more.

Q: What was the biggest snow day near Sauk Prairie?

8.5 inches on February 13, 2019, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 2 miles away in 10 winters. The snowiest winter was 2022 to 2023, with 55 inches.

Q: How does the Sauk Prairie snow day predictor work?

It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Prairie du Sac 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 Sauk Prairie’s own big snow morning: 3.4 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 2 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 Sauk Prairie, measured against Sauk Prairie's own big snow morning of 3.4 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Sauk Prairie close tomorrow?

Reading the National Weather Service forecast for the overnight and the bus hours in Prairie du Sac.

Ten winters of school mornings

Sauk Prairie’s snow record

32.1inches of snow a winter

3.4school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more

1.1with 4 in or more

3.4 ina big snow morning in Sauk Prairie: the top tenth of snowy school mornings

13.8school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder

2.3Nov

5.9Dec

10.2Jan

6.6Feb

4.8Mar

Average snowfall by month, inches

Biggest day 8.5 in on February 13, 2019
Snowiest winter 2022 to 2023, 55 in
6 in mornings 0.5 a winter
1 in mornings 6.2 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 2 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 Sauk Prairie

District	Snow a winter	4 in mornings
Lodi School DistrictLodi	34.6 in	1.7
Baraboo School DistrictBaraboo	39.9 in	1.4
Waunakee Community School DistrictWaunakee	46.4 in	1.8
Middleton-Cross Plains School DistrictMiddleton	48.3 in	2.2
River Valley School DistrictSpring Green	43.3 in	2.1
Mount Horeb Area School DistrictMount Horeb	39.5 in	2.3

The schools

6 schools

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

High

Sauk Prairie High

Middle

Sauk Prairie Middle, Sauk City

Elementary

Bridges Elementary
Grand Avenue Elementary
Tower Rock Elementary
Merrimac Community, Merrimac

Questions

Sauk Prairie snow day questions

How much snow does Prairie du Sac get?

What was the biggest snow day near Sauk Prairie?

How does the Sauk Prairie 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.