Ice Day Calculator
Snow gets the headlines — but ice closes schools faster. Check your ice risk now.
Why ice days happen with almost no snow
An ice day is a school closure caused by freezing rain or refrozen melt — not snowfall. A thin glaze of ice makes roads and sidewalks impassable for buses even when the snowfall total is near zero. Districts treat ice as more dangerous than snow because plows cannot clear it and salt works slowly below −10°C.
How we score ice risk
Every result on this site includes an ice risk rating — Low, Moderate, or High. We flag ice risk when the forecast shows precipitation falling while temperatures hover near 0°C, the classic freezing-rain setup. The longer that window lasts, the higher the risk. Ice risk feeds into your travel and driving-risk scores too.
Ice day safety checklist
- Assume every wet surface is icy when temperatures are near freezing — especially bridges and shaded sidewalks.
- Give buses and plows extra room; stopping distances on ice can triple.
- Charge devices and know your district's announcement channel — ice decisions often come earlier than snow calls.
- If school runs on an ice-risk morning, leave 15 minutes early and stick to treated main roads.
Ice vs. snow: which closes school more often?
Per inch of precipitation, ice wins. Two centimeters of snow rarely closes anything; a few millimeters of freezing rain can shut down a whole district. That is why our calculator scores ice risk separately — a 10% snow day score with High ice risk still deserves your attention. See how the full formula works.