The chance snow, ice or cold closes school in Barrie on the next school morning, from the latest forecast
Loading the forecast for Barrie…
An estimate from the forecast, not a promise.
Looks like a regular school day. Check again if the forecast changes.
🧪 Test weather, not the real forecast
In much of Canada, school buses can be cancelled while schools stay open. This is a weather estimate, not an official bus cancellation; check your school board or bus service.
Opens a web search in a new tab. Only your school board can say for sure.
Days 3–5 are an early outlook and may change. School holidays aren’t known.
7 am temperature: —
No snow or ice expected overnight
Overnight window: 6 pm – 8 am before school.
It estimates the chance that weather closes schools or cancels buses in Barrie on the next school morning, from the hourly forecast for the city between 6 pm and 8 am: overnight snow, freezing rain, cold and wind. It’s an estimate, not an announcement; only the bus consortium and the school boards decide.
Local weather
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1981–2010 climate normals for the Barrie WPCC station show:
| Average snowfall per year | 223.0 cm |
|---|---|
| Snowiest month | January, 65.9 cm |
| Days with 5 cm or more of snowfall | 16.5 a year |
| Coldest month (daily average) | January, −7.7°C |
That’s about 100 cm more snow a year than the Toronto station records in the same normals (121.5 cm), and more than twice as many days with 5 cm or more (16.5 against 7.7). The station’s biggest one-day snowfall on record was 65.0 cm, on January 9, 1978.
Barrie sits on Kempenfelt Bay on Lake Simcoe, with Georgian Bay, part of Lake Huron, to the northwest. Environment Canada describes snow squalls as sudden, moderately heavy snowfall with blowing snow and gusty winds, “intense but very localized”, that “often blow in off the Great Lakes”. One part of Simcoe County can be buried while another stays clear, which is why buses are cancelled by weather zone, and why a forecast for one point can miss a narrow squall band.
School boards
Two English-language boards run Barrie’s public and Catholic schools, and both use the same bus consortium. French-language schools have their own boards.
The public board. Its transportation page says that when buses are cancelled, SCDSB schools remain open for student learning, and students who can’t get there can find their work on D2L or Google Classroom. It also says it’s always a family decision whether it’s safe for a child to leave for school in severe weather.
The Catholic board. Its transportation page says its transportation is coordinated by the Simcoe County Student Transportation Consortium and sends families there for bus cancellations. It doesn’t say whether schools stay open when buses are cancelled, so check the board’s own announcements.
Buses
The Simcoe County Student Transportation Consortium (SCSTC) runs school buses and vans for both boards, and its website is the official place to check. From its site and SCDSB’s transportation page:
This page predicts the weather, not official cancellations. A high chance here doesn’t mean buses are cancelled; only the consortium’s announcement does.
Method
The same published formula as the main Snow Day Calculator, for the next school morning in Barrie’s time zone:
Every step is in How the snow day estimate works. The points are first estimates, not measured against real Barrie cancellations, so the accuracy is unknown. The points were first set for US school districts. In Simcoe County, buses can be cancelled while SCDSB schools stay open, so read a high % as rough snow-day weather, not a sure closure.
FAQ
Nobody knows until it’s announced. The calculator above estimates the chance from the latest forecast; check it the evening before and early in the morning, then check the bus consortium and your school board.
On the Simcoe County Student Transportation Consortium’s website, simcoecountyschoolbus.ca, which aims to post them between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m., and on its Twitter account, @SCSTC_SchoolBus.
For the public board, yes: SCDSB says its schools remain open for student learning when buses are cancelled. The Catholic board’s transportation page doesn’t say, so check SMCDSB’s own announcements.
About 223 cm a year on average, with January the snowiest month at 65.9 cm, in Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1981–2010 climate normals for the Barrie WPCC station. On average, 16.5 days a year bring 5 cm of snow or more.
The consortium splits the county into four weather zones (North, South, Central and West) and can cancel buses in one zone, several or all of them. Barrie is in the Central zone, with Innisfil and Angus.
No. This site isn’t connected to any school board, the bus consortium or the City of Barrie.