The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Sparta, measured against Sparta's own big snow morning of 4 inches.
The next three school mornings
Will Sparta close tomorrow?
Reading the National Weather Service forecast for the overnight and the bus hours in Sparta.
Ten winters of school mornings
Sparta’s snow record
35.1inches of snow a winter
4.3school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more
1.3with 4 in or more
4 ina big snow morning in Sparta: the top tenth of snowy school mornings
16.7school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder
1.4Nov
8.1Dec
8.5Jan
9.4Feb
3.3Mar
Average snowfall by month, inches
Biggest day 8.2 in on February 12, 2019
Snowiest winter 2018 to 2019, 53.9 in
6 in mornings 0.7 a winter
1 in mornings 7.6 a winter
Measured at a NOAA weather station 1.3 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.
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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 Sparta follows the district’s call: one closing covers them all.
High
Sparta High
Sparta Alternative Independent Learning School
Middle
Sparta Meadowview Middle
Innovations STEM Academy
Elementary
Herrman Elementary
Sparta Montessori School
Other schools
Southside Early Learning Center
Questions
Sparta snow day questions
About 35.1 inches a winter at a NOAA weather station 1.3 miles away, averaged over 7 winters. Between December 1 and March 31 that brings 4.3 weekday mornings a year with 2 inches of new snow or more, and 1.3 with 4 inches or more.
8.2 inches on February 12, 2019, the largest single day at a NOAA weather station 1.3 miles away in 7 winters. The snowiest winter was 2018 to 2019, with 53.9 inches.
It reads the National Weather Service forecast for Sparta 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 Sparta’s own big snow morning: 4 inches, the top tenth of snowy weekday mornings at a NOAA weather station 1.3 miles 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.
