Cold Day & Snow Day Calculator 2026
Use this Snow Day Calculator to get predictions about whether or not your school will be open on weekdays. Enter your location (just city name and select country and get the required results and find out if your school will be open this winter. It is free and easy to use.
Snow Day Calculator
Check if school might be cancelled tomorrow
Fetching weather data…
Cold Day & Snow Day Calculator: Will School Close Due to Extreme Cold?
Snow isn’t the only thing that shuts down schools. Extreme cold — specifically dangerous wind chill — causes thousands of school closures across the northern United States and Canada every winter. In fact, cold days are becoming more common reasons for closure than snow days in states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois.
What Is a Cold Day?
A cold day is when schools close due to dangerously low temperatures or wind chill, even without any snowfall. Frostbite can set in within 10-15 minutes at wind chills below -20°F (-29°C). At -40°F wind chill, exposed skin can freeze in under 5 minutes. That’s why school districts have temperature thresholds that trigger automatic closures.
Wind Chill Thresholds by State
| State/Region | Typical Closure Threshold | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | Wind chill below -35°F | Most districts follow this. Minneapolis Public Schools uses -35°F. |
| Wisconsin | Wind chill below -35°F | Similar to Minnesota. Some rural districts close at -30°F. |
| Illinois | Wind chill below -20°F to -25°F | Chicago Public Schools: -20°F wind chill |
| Michigan | Wind chill below -25°F | Varies by district. Detroit uses -25°F. |
| Iowa | Wind chill below -25°F | Most districts in the -25°F to -30°F range |
| North Dakota | Wind chill below -40°F | Higher threshold because communities are more prepared |
| Ohio | Wind chill below -20°F | Columbus and Cleveland districts |
| Indiana | Wind chill below -20°F | Indianapolis area districts |
| New York (upstate) | Wind chill below -25°F | NYC rarely closes for cold alone |
| Canada (Ontario) | Wind chill below -40°C | Most school boards follow Environment Canada warnings |
Snow Day vs. Cold Day — What’s the Difference?
Snow days happen when heavy snowfall or ice makes roads impassable. Cold days happen when temperatures are life-threateningly low, even if roads are perfectly clear. A bright, sunny winter morning with -30°F wind chill can still close schools.
- Snow days are about transportation safety — can buses drive? Can students walk safely?
- Cold days are about exposure risk — will waiting at a bus stop for 10 minutes cause frostbite?
- Snow days are easier to predict 24 hours ahead
- Cold days can be trickier — wind chill depends on wind speed, which can shift overnight
How to Use Our Snow Day & Cold Day Calculator
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Enter your city name in the search box at the top of the calculator
- Select your country from the dropdown (US and Canada supported)
- Click “Calculate” — the tool will fetch real-time weather data for your location
- Review your results — Snow Day Chance, Total Snowfall, Low Temperature, Max Wind Speed, and Overnight Snow
Understanding Your Results
- 0-20% chance: School will almost certainly be open. Bundle up and go.
- 20-40% chance: Possible delay. Check your school’s website before bed.
- 40-60% chance: Decent shot at a snow day. Set your alarm anyway, but there’s hope.
- 60-80% chance: Strong likelihood of closure or delay.
- 80-100% chance: Near-certain school closure. Expect the announcement by early morning.
Best Time to Check
- Night before (8-10 PM): Get an early read. Weather data is fairly reliable for the next morning.
- Early morning (5-6 AM): Most accurate. Districts make closure decisions between 4-6 AM.
- Check twice: A 30% chance at 9 PM might become 70% by 5 AM if a cold front moves faster than expected.
Snow Day Calculator Accuracy: How Reliable Is It?
Our calculator uses real-time weather data from the National Weather Service and applies a multi-factor algorithm that considers snowfall, temperature, wind speed, and historical patterns. Prediction accuracy typically falls in the 70-85% range for next-day forecasts.
What Affects Accuracy?
Factors that improve accuracy: checking within 12 hours of the potential closure, living in areas with consistent closure policies, and storms with clear heavy snowfall predictions.
Factors that reduce accuracy: borderline weather, rapidly changing conditions (lake-effect snow, sudden cold fronts), small or rural districts with no published policies, and ice storms.
Why Local Policies Matter
The biggest variable isn’t the weather — it’s the school district. A district in Texas might close for 2 inches of snow. A district in Minnesota wouldn’t flinch at 6 inches. Our calculator accounts for regional preparedness, but can’t predict individual superintendent decisions.
What is a Snow Day Calculator?
School Snow Day Calculator or Predictor is used to calculate the chances of getting a snowstorm or other extreme weather conditions that may result in school cancellations. It is designed to help parents and students anticipate the odds of their school getting closed/delayed because of snow.
Discovery of a Snow Day Calculator
The origination of such a calculator dates back to the year 2007, when MIT student, David Sukhin started it as a middle school project. At that time, the users were required to enter weather information and statistics about their locality and the calculator would predict whether it will snow the next day.
Updates that Followed
Advancements in the calculator algorithm allowed it to automatically gather weather data from the National Weather Service and give a prediction according to the ZIP code entered by the user.
Now, with such an improvement to the whole process of giving feeding in weather data by yourself, a number of users of the snow day calculator shot up drastically and several more companies started launching their own version of this calculator.
The main difference between the calculator and its predecessors was that it used a more advanced method to calculate the chances of school closure.
The tool uses weather statistics like temperature, ice forecasts, timing & magnitude of a snowstorm and historical data on users’ location and school to provide predictions that are correct with an accuracy of up to 100%! To be exact, the factors go like this:
- Snowfall: Goes without saying, the greater the snowfall, greater chances of getting a snow day.
- How Ready Are You?: The more frequently an area receives snow, the more prepared they will be for such cases and vice-versa.
- Is it just the snow?: Often a snowstorm may bring along partly ice partly snow kind of fall and since ice is pretty difficult to shove off the roads, more ice means better chances of snow day.
- Temperature: Now, even if a lot of snow falls in, a warm weather the next could help in melting the snow faster thus clearing out the roads and surroundings. That goes the opposite for a cold weather.
Using a carefully developed formula, the Snow Day Calculator will predict snow days or delays for schools using just your city name in the US and Canada.
FAQs on Snow Day Calculators
What is a snow day calculator?
A snow day calculator predicts the likelihood of school closures based on weather conditions. It analyzes factors like expected snowfall, temperature, wind speed, and overnight accumulation to give you a percentage chance that school might be cancelled tomorrow.
How does this snow day calculator work?
Enter your city name and the calculator fetches real-time weather forecast data from Open-Meteo. It then scores multiple factors including total snowfall over 24 hours, low temperature, maximum wind speed, and overnight snow accumulation. These scores combine into an overall snow day probability percentage.
How accurate is the snow day prediction?
This calculator is for entertainment purposes only. Actual school closure decisions depend on many factors beyond weather, including road conditions, bus route safety, and local district policies. Always check official school announcements for confirmed closures rather than relying solely on any prediction tool.
What factors affect the snow day probability?
The calculator weighs four main factors: expected snowfall amount over 24 hours, low temperature (especially below freezing), maximum wind speed and gusts, and overnight snow accumulation. Heavy snowfall overnight typically has the biggest impact since roads may not be cleared by morning.
Does this work for cold days without snow?
Yes. The calculator factors in temperature alongside snowfall. Extreme cold temperatures can trigger school closures even without significant snow, especially when wind chill makes it dangerous for students waiting at bus stops. The temperature scoring reflects this reality.
Can I check snow day chances for any city?
You can check any city where Open-Meteo provides weather data, which covers most locations in the United States, Canada, and other countries. Just enter the city name and the calculator will fetch the relevant forecast data for that location.
When is the best time to check for a snow day?
Check the evening before a potential snow day for the most useful prediction. Weather forecasts become more accurate closer to the event. The calculator shows a 24-hour forecast so you can see how conditions are expected to develop overnight and into the morning hours.
Where does the weather data come from?
Weather data comes from Open-Meteo, a free and open-source weather API. It aggregates data from national weather services and provides accurate forecasts for locations worldwide. The calculator pulls hourly forecast data to build the 24-hour prediction view.
Using the Snow Day Calculators
The calculators are now used and trusted by millions of users and receive constant appreciation from those who trust the science behind such predictions. As the model learns about more regions and schools and is fed reports by users about what actually happened, the calculator keeps on getting better, both in terms of accuracy and the region covered. It is now available on websites as well as Android and iOS applications.
