Guide
How Many Snow Days Do Schools Get?
There’s no set number of snow days. Each US state sets a minimum number of school days or hours, and each district decides how many spare days to put in its calendar. When those run out, missed days are made up, waived by the state or, where the law allows it, taught online.
Most states use 180 days: 28 states and DC, going by the 2020 national data with 9 states checked in October 2026. Illinois is the only state we found that writes a snow day cushion into its rules, with at least five emergency days on every calendar. In Canada, Ontario requires at least 194 school days and Nova Scotia 195, and a snow day in Ontario still counts as a school day.
By state
School days and hours required in each state
We started from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Table 1.1 (archived copy), which lists each state’s minimums as of 2020. In October 2026 we checked 9 states against their current law or education department; those rows say “checked Oct 2026” and link the source.
We counted 28 states plus DC at 180 days. Colorado is the lowest at 160 and Kansas the highest at 186 (for grades 1 to 11). Another 13 states set no day count and rely on hours, or leave the number to local boards.
| State | School days | Hours a year | Remote days instead of make-up days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 180 | or 1,080 | — |
| Alaska | 180 | or 740–900 | — |
| Arizona | 180 | or 712–890 | — |
| Arkansas | Set by accreditation standards | None set | — |
| California | 180 | 600–1,080 | — |
| Colorado | 160 | 450–1,080 | — |
| Connecticut | 180 | 450–900 | — |
| Delaware | None set | 1,032–1,060 | — |
| District of Columbia | 180 | None set | — |
| Florida | 180 | or 720–900 | — |
| Georgia | 180 | None set | — |
| Hawaii | 180 | 1,080 | — |
| Idaho | Set locally | 450–990 | — |
| Illinoischecked Oct 2026 | 185 (176 attendance) | None set | Up to 5 e-learning days |
| Indianachecked Oct 2026 | 180 | None set | 3 virtual days count |
| Iowa | 180 | 1,080 | — |
| Kansas | 186 (grade 12: 181) | 465–1,116 | — |
| Kentucky | 170 | 1,062 | — |
| Louisiana | 177 | or 1,062 | — |
| Mainechecked Oct 2026 | 180 (175 for instruction) | None set | — |
| Maryland | 180 | 1,080 (high school 1,170) | — |
| Massachusetts | 180 | 425–990 | — |
| Michigan | 180 | 1,098 | — |
| Minnesotachecked Oct 2026 | 165 (grades 1–11) | 425–1,020 | Up to 5 e-learning days |
| Mississippi | 180 | None set | — |
| Missouri | None set | 522–1,044 | — |
| Montana | Set locally | 360–1,080 | — |
| Nebraska | None set | 400–1,080 | — |
| Nevada | 180 | None set | — |
| New Hampshire | 180 | or 450–990 | — |
| New Jersey | 180 | None set | — |
| New Mexico | None set | 450–1,080 | — |
| New Yorkchecked Oct 2026 | 180 | 900–990 | Yes, on emergency days |
| North Carolina | 185 | or 1,025 | — |
| North Dakota | None set | 481–1,050 | — |
| Ohio | Set locally | 450–1,001 | — |
| Oklahoma | 180 | or 1,080 | — |
| Oregon | None set | 450–990 | — |
| Pennsylvaniachecked Oct 2026 | 180 | or 450–990 | Up to 5 flexible days |
| Rhode Island | 180 | or 1,080 | — |
| South Carolina | 180 | None set | — |
| South Dakota | Set locally | 438–963 | — |
| Tennessee | 180 | None set | — |
| Texas | None set | 1,260 | — |
| Utah | 180 | 990 | — |
| Vermontchecked Oct 2026 | 175 | None set | — |
| Virginiachecked Oct 2026 | 180 | or 540–990 | Up to 10 remote days |
| Washington | 180 | 450–1,080 | — |
| West Virginia | 180 | None set | — |
| Wisconsinchecked Oct 2026 | None set | 437–1,137 | Yes, a virtual learning day |
| Wyoming | 175 | 450–1,100 | — |
How to read it: hours run from kindergarten (often half-day) to high school. “or” means a school can meet either the days or the hours; otherwise a state with both requires both. “None set” means the state has no minimum in that unit, and “Set locally” means districts or boards decide. In the remote column, “—” means we didn’t find a current official rule to cite, not that remote days are banned.
Rules change, and NCES notes many exceptions this table leaves out. We also tried Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire and Ohio, but their official sites didn’t load for us, so those rows still show 2020 data. Check your state education department before relying on a number.
Districts
How districts handle snow days
A district’s calendar decides what a snow day costs. Most plan for a few closures; after that, the state’s rules on make-up days, waivers and remote learning take over. We didn’t find an official count of how many snow days a typical district builds in.
Spare days and hours
Illinois is the clearest case. The state board’s 2026–27 calendar guidelines require at least 185 days, including at least five proposed emergency days, so that 176 still count toward attendance. An emergency day that gets used needs a make-up day, and unused ones are taken off the final calendar.
In Wisconsin, the Department of Public Instruction notes that districts “typically only build a certain number of inclement weather days into their school calendars.” It lets them make up the rest with longer school days, extra days or a virtual learning day.
Make-up days and waivers
Virginia spells the rule out in § 22.1-98. If schools close for five days or fewer, every day is made up by adding days or lengthening the school day. Past five, a division makes up the first five plus one day for every two after that, unless it uses remote days or gets a waiver from the Board of Education.
Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland shows how it plays out. Maryland requires 180 instructional days, and its 2025–26 calendar had 181. After closures in late January and early February 2026, its first waiver request was denied, so on February 19 the board added four instructional days in June and moved the last day to June 25. News reports in March said the state later granted a waiver; we couldn’t find that on an MCPS page.
Remote and e-learning days
Seven of the states we checked let some online days count instead of a make-up day. Minnesota and Illinois allow up to 5 e-learning days, Pennsylvania up to 5 Flexible Instructional Days for districts the state has approved, Virginia up to 10 unscheduled remote learning days and Indiana 3 virtual days. New York and Wisconsin allow remote days on emergency closures, with no number in the pages we read.
Minneapolis Public Schools uses them sparingly. Its severe weather page says e-learning days are only for schools at risk of falling below the state’s required hours: elementary schools switch after three days of cancellations, middle and high schools after two.
Licking Valley Local Schools in Ohio uses a different tool. Its calendar policy, citing Ohio Revised Code 3313.482, lets the superintendent make up to three school days’ worth of hours through lessons posted online, or paper “blizzard bags” sent home.
Late starts and early dismissals
A delay often costs nothing. Pennsylvania counts a delayed opening or early dismissal for bad weather as instruction time, and New York lets up to two scheduled hours lost that way count per day.
Canada
How it works in Canada
Provinces set the school year in regulation. In Ontario and Nova Scotia, that leaves no fixed number of snow days to use up.
Ontario
Ontario’s Regulation 304 sets at least 194 school days. Boards must make 3 of them professional activity (PA) days and may add up to 4 more, so students are scheduled for 187 to 191 instructional days. Up to 10 of those can be exam days.
The line that matters for snow days is in section 6. When a school or class closes for inclement weather or a failure of transportation arrangements, “the day on which the school or class is closed remains an instructional day.” We read the regulation and found no rule requiring those days to be made up.
Many Ontario storms cancel buses, not school. SCDSB in Barrie, WRDSB in Kitchener and OCDSB in Ottawa keep schools open when buses are cancelled, while HWDSB in Hamilton closes its schools. Our pages for Barrie, Kitchener, Ottawa and Hamilton link each board’s own rule.
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia’s Ministerial Education Act Regulations say “the school year consists of 195 school days” and require at least 5 hours of teaching each day. A class dismissed for safety after 3 hours still counts as a school day; one dismissed earlier doesn’t. Closing a school for the day needs the Minister’s approval.
Lost days can be made up only with the Minister’s approval, during spring vacation or on no more than 3 Saturdays. In Halifax, HRCE’s choices on a storm morning run from a two-hour delay to closing all schools; our Halifax page has its timeline.
Calculators
Will tomorrow be one of them?
None of these rules say whether school closes tomorrow. Our calculators estimate that from the overnight forecast.
FAQ
Snow day questions
Do snow days have to be made up?
Only when closures take a school below its state’s minimum. Most districts schedule a few extra days or hours, so the first closures cost nothing. After that it depends on the state: Virginia requires the first five missed days to be made up, while Ontario counts a weather closure as an instructional day, so there’s nothing to make up.
What happens if a school uses all its snow days?
It adds make-up days, often at the end of the year, or asks the state for a waiver. Where the state allows it, it can hold remote learning days instead. Montgomery County, Maryland added four days in June 2026 after its first waiver request was denied.
How many snow days do schools build into the calendar?
There’s no national number, and we didn’t find an official count. Illinois is the one state we found that sets a minimum: every school calendar must include at least five emergency days. Elsewhere it’s up to each district.
Can a remote learning day replace a snow day?
In some states. Of the states we checked, Minnesota and Illinois allow up to 5 e-learning days, Pennsylvania up to 5 Flexible Instructional Days, Virginia up to 10 remote days and Indiana 3 virtual days, while New York and Wisconsin allow remote days on emergency closures. Your district still has to choose to use them.
Do Canadian schools make up snow days?
Not in Ontario: Regulation 304 says a day closed for inclement weather remains an instructional day. In Nova Scotia, lost days can be made up only with the Minister’s approval, during spring vacation or on up to 3 Saturdays.
How many school days are there in Ontario?
At least 194 school days. Boards set 3 to 7 of them as professional activity days, so students have 187 to 191 instructional days, and up to 10 of those can be exam days.
Why do some states count hours instead of days?
An hours rule counts teaching time, not mornings, so a late start or a longer school day changes the total. Texas sets 1,260 hours and no day count, and Pennsylvania lets schools choose between 180 days and its hour minimums.
Sources
We read every page below in October 2026. The NCES site timed out for us, so we read its table from the archived copy of November 21, 2025.
- NCES State Education Practices, Table 1.1 (2020) (archived copy): the base for every row of the state table
- Illinois State Board of Education, Public School Calendar Guidelines 2026–27: days, emergency days and e-learning days
- Indiana State Board of Education, March 4, 2026: 180 days and the three virtual days
- Maine Revised Statutes 20-A § 4801: school days
- Minnesota Statutes 120A.41 and 120A.414: hours, days and e-learning days
- NYSED State Aid attendance FAQ and remote instruction FAQ: days, hours, delays and remote days
- Pennsylvania instructional time circular (revised March 13, 2024) and Flexible Instructional Days
- Vermont Statutes 16 V.S.A. § 1071: school year
- Code of Virginia § 22.1-98: days, hours, make-up days and remote days
- Wisconsin DPI, days and hours of instruction and its March 9, 2023 letter on making up minutes
- Montgomery County Public Schools, calendar update, February 19, 2026
- Minneapolis Public Schools, Severe Weather
- Licking Valley Local School District, policy 8210 School Calendar
- Ontario Regulation 304, School Year Calendar, Professional Activity Days (consolidated August 13, 2025)
- Nova Scotia Ministerial Education Act Regulations: sections 11, 15, 18 and 19