The studio notebook
Practical guides from Snow Day Calculator
6 guides to use with the Snow day calculator: Enter your ZIP code for the National Weather Service forecast, or type in your own, and see a clear estimate of a school closure or delay, with the reasons.
How much snow closes schools? It depends where you live
There is no national number. Here is why the same snowfall closes schools in one place and not another, and how the calculator’s snow-tolerance setting reflects that.
How school districts decide on snow days, and when you hear
Who makes the call, how early it happens, how families are notified, and what a two-hour delay changes, using published policies from real districts.
Snow days vs remote learning days: what changes for families
Some states let districts hold school online instead of closing. How a remote day works, what limits apply, and how to read a closure announcement.
Extreme cold and wind chill: when cold alone closes schools
How wind chill is calculated, what the National Weather Service cold alerts mean, and why there is no single wind chill at which schools close.
How the Snow Day Calculator works, and what it cannot know
The forecast source, the scoring rules and their limits, written out so you can judge the result for yourself.
The night before a possible snow day: a parent’s checklist
What to check in the forecast, which alerts matter, and how to be ready for a delay, a closure or a remote day.