The anticipation of waiting for the announcement of whether there will be a snow day is something on every kid’s mind in the winter. Imagine a solution to these snow day jitters- perhaps a prediction of a snow day in your school. The Snow Day Calculator was created by David Sukhin to do just that. As a New Jersey middle schooler growing up in 2007, he wished to predict the chance that he would have a snow day. In the early stages, users would input the weather, then the algorithm would determine the likelihood of school closing. However, three years later, the program started to use data directly from the National Weather Service. To use the service, one enters their zip code, how many snow days they have had that year, and what type of school they attend. The results will show the likelihood of snow days, delayed openings, or early dismissals. Over the years, the calculator has evolved from a website into a full fledged app with over 5 million users a year.
The important question is, how accurate are the results? As earlier stated, the weather data used comes from the National Weather Service, and is constantly being updated. The algorithm takes into account wind, temperature, forecasts, zip code, and school history of snow days. With these factors, the algorithm still may not be completely accurate because of unseen factors such as a principal deciding that kids can go to school. But overall, the results have been said to be pretty reliable. The conclusions of the Snow Day Calculator are not just a guess but are based on true information and science.