A Reddit user has created a map that shows how much snow it takes for kids to score a snow day (and explains why Atlanta freaked out last week!). The map has been making the rounds and from the looks of it, seems fairly accurate.
The map maker, Alexandr Trubetskoy, included the following clarifications:
1. In much of the Midwest and Great Plains, school closing often depends more on wind chill and temperature than on snow accumulation ("cold days"). Thus, this map may be misleading in those areas.
2. Many jurisdictions in California and other western states have significantly varied snowfall, depending on elevation. This makes it difficult to find an "average" number, or often makes it misleading.
3. Urban areas like Chicago and New York have more resources to clear snow and often need more to cause closings.
4. Clarification: The lightest green says "any snow" but also includes merely the prediction of snow.
5. Clarification II: This is snow accumulation over 24 hours/overnight.
6. Hawaii does get snow! Just... not where people live.
· Map: 'How Much Snow it Typically Takes to Cancel School in the U.S.' [The Atlantic]
· Atrubetskoy [Reddit]