East Of The Cascades Needs A Foot Of Snow For Snow Days

We’ve started seeing snow in the Cascades. The first snowfall of the season usually appears in the lower elevations around Thanksgiving. I grew up in Western Washington, where if the snow stuck to the ground, there was a good chance we wouldn't have to go to school that day. However, here in North Central Washington, it takes a lot more snow for the kids to stay home from school.

So, how much snow does it typically take to have a snow day in Washington?

The answer varies around the state.

Many school districts in Washington State experience varying amounts of snowfall, influenced mainly by elevation. Generally, towns and counties east of the Cascades allocate more resources for street snow removal. Consequently, the availability of snowplows and trucks that apply a salty de-icing brine mixture means that schools need to see more significant snowfall or ice accumulation to justify canceling classes.

A Reddit user named Alexandr Trubetskoy (a.k.a. atrubetskoy) created a map of the entire US showing how much snow usually cancels school. Let's look at his info for counties in Washington state. 

Snow of at least 1” usually cancels snow in the following counties

KING - Seattle, Bellevue

PIERCE - Tacoma, Puyallup

KITSAP - Bremerton, Silverdale,  Poulsbo

THURSTON - Olympia

LEWIS - Centralia, Chehalis

COWLITZ - Longview, Kelso

WAHKIAKUM - Cathlamet (along the Columbia River)

Snow of at least 3” usually cancels snow in the following

CLARK - Vancouver, WA

SKAMANIA - Stevenson

PACIFIC - Ilwaco, Raymond

GRAYS HARBOR - Aberdeen, Hoquiam

JEFFERSON - Quilcene, Brinnon

CLALLAM - Forks, Port Angeles, Sequim

MASON - Belfair, Shelton

SNOHOMISH - Everett, Lake Stevens, Marysville

FRANKLIN - Pasco, Connell, Richland

WALLA WALLA - Walla Walla

BENTON - Kennewick

Snow of at least 6” usually cancels snow in the following

SKAGIT - Mount Vernon, Burlington

YAKIMA - Yakima, Moxee (home of Cascade Hops)

KLICKITAT - Goldendale, Maryhill

DOUGLAS - Waterville, Bridgeport, East Wenatchee. (NOTE: The 24” of snow fell in the Wenatchee Valley in January of 2022. This resulted in the only time I’ve known the Eastmont School District (in East Wenatchee) to cancel school for the day.) 

GRANT - Quincy, Moses Lake, George, Ephrata, Royal City

ADAMS - Othello, Ritzville

SPOKANE - Spokane, Medical Lake, Liberty Lake, Cheney

GARFIELD - Pomeroy

ASOTIN - Clarkson, Asotin

LINCOLN - Wilbur, Almira, Creston, Davenport

COLUMBIA - Dayton, Starbuck

Snow of at least 12” usually cancels snow in the following

WHATCOM - Bellingham, Blaine, Lynden (The only county west of the Cascades with the resources to handle large amounts of snow.)

CHELAN - Wenatchee, Chelan, Leavenworth, Cashmere

OKANOGAN - Brewster, the Methow Valley, Omak, Okanogan

FERRY - Curlew, Republic, Inchelium

STEVENS - Chewelah, Colville, Springdale, Kettle Falls
PEND OREILLE - Newport, Metaline Falls, Ione

NOTE: No data shown for Island or San Juan Counties

INFO SOURCE: Alexandr Trubetskoy (also known as atrubetskoy on Reddit) check out his story: How much snow it typically takes to cancel school in the U.S.