Snow Day Predictor for Virginia

Browse snow day predictions for all 85 cities in Virginia. Select your city to check tomorrow's school closure forecast.

Every city below links to its own live snow day forecast for Virginia. Find your city in the alphabetical list and click it to check today's snowfall probability and school closure forecast.

About Virginia

Virginia became the 10th state on June 25, 1788, ratifying the Constitution before the Bill of Rights even existed. Maryland and Washington D.C. sit to the north, North Carolina to the south, and West Virginia and Kentucky mark the western edge. The Census Bureau put the population at roughly 8.88 million in 2025, and Richmond, on the James River, has served as capital since 1780. Northern Virginia runs on federal contracting and tech money, Tysons and Reston stacked with defense firms and data centers feeding off proximity to D.C. Hampton Roads centers on Naval Station Norfolk, among the largest naval bases in the world, plus the Port of Virginia. The Shenandoah Valley grows apples and cattle between two mountain ranges, while southwest Virginia's economy still carries scars from the coal industry's decline. That geographic spread makes snow forecasting genuinely hard here. Cold air pools east of the Blue Ridge and turns storms into ice instead of snow, a phenomenon meteorologists call cold air damming, while Hampton Roads often gets rain from the same system. Virginia runs its school divisions locally, so Fairfax County calls a snow day while Virginia Beach, two hundred miles south, stays open under the same forecast.

Virginia Snow Day Climate and School Closures

How Virginia's Climate Affects Snow Days

NOAA's 1991-2020 normals put Richmond's average annual snowfall at 8.8 inches and Washington Dulles at 21.0 inches, both in the same state. Coastal Norfolk sees closer to 6 inches most winters, while the Blue Ridge high country around Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park can top 40 inches most years.

A sudden storm shut Interstate 95 near Fredericksburg for roughly 22 hours on January 3-4, 2022, stranding thousands between mile markers 104 and 139 after snow fell at over three inches per hour. (Virginia Office of the State Inspector General)

What Causes School Closures in Virginia

Ice, not snow depth, decides most closures east of the mountains. Cold air damming traps a cold layer against the Blue Ridge while warmer air rides above it, coating roads in ice from modest precipitation. Virginia's 134 school divisions each decide alone, and rural bus routes in southwest Virginia's hollows push districts to close early.

Explore Snow Day Predictions Across Virginia

Virginia has 85 cities covered by the Snow Day Predictor. Predictions are updated hourly using real-time weather data from Open-Meteo.

Popular Cities to Check in Virginia

Virginia Beach. Virginia's largest city, home to roughly 454,000 people, sits on the Atlantic where mild winters limit snow. Nor'easters usually bring rain instead, and schools there close for ice or flooding more often than for snow.

Norfolk. Norfolk hosts Naval Station Norfolk, one of the world's largest naval bases, yet averages only 6 inches of snow yearly. When nor'easters bring accumulation, base and port schedules complicate closures as much as icy roads.

Richmond. The capital sits almost exactly between mountains and coast, which makes its winters notoriously fickle. NOAA's current normal puts Richmond at 8.8 inches of snow yearly, down from over 16 inches in the snowy 1960s.

Arlington. Arlington sits closest to D.C.'s federal calendar, where a two-hour delay ripples through Metro, I-395, and thousands of telework schedules. Nearby Dulles Airport averages 21 inches of snow yearly, far more than Richmond typically sees.

Roanoke. Roanoke sits in a valley among the Blue Ridge foothills, where elevation brings more snow than Richmond sees. Totals swing year to year, from over 20 inches in the mid-2010s to under 6 by 2024.

Winchester. Winchester anchors the northern Shenandoah Valley on I-81, close to West Virginia, where cold-air pooling adds extra snow. Apple orchards ring the city, and its spring Blossom Festival reflects a region built around the weather.

A 6

Abingdon Alexandria Annandale Arlington Ashburn Ashland

B 6

Bailey s Crossroads Bedford Blacksburg Bon Air Bristol Burke

C 11

Cave Spring Centreville Chantilly Charlottesville Chesapeake Chester Christiansburg Collinsville Colonial Heights Covington Culpeper

D 3

Dale City Danville Dumfries

E 1

Emporia

F 7

Fairfax Falls Church Farmville Fort Hunt Franklin Fredericksburg Front Royal

G 3

Gainesville Glen Allen Great Falls

H 4

Hampton Harrisonburg Herndon Hopewell

I 1

Idylwood

L 6

Lake Ridge Lakeside Leesburg Linton Hall Lorton Lynchburg

M 7

Manassas Manassas Park Martinsville McLean Mechanicsville Merrifield Midlothian

N 4

Newport News Norfolk North Chesterfield Norton

P 4

Petersburg Poquoson Portsmouth Pulaski

R 4

Radford Reston Richmond Roanoke

S 7

Salem South Boston Springfield Stafford Staunton Sterling Suffolk

T 2

Tuckahoe Tysons Corner

V 2

Vienna Virginia Beach

W 7

Warrenton Waynesboro West Springfield Williamsburg Winchester Woodbridge Wytheville

Frequently Asked Questions About Snow Days in Virginia

How do Virginia school districts decide when to call a snow day?

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Virginia has 134 local school divisions, and each superintendent decides independently, often starting predawn calls with transportation directors and checking VDOT's 511 Virginia site for road treatment status. Districts near D.C., like Fairfax and Loudoun, weigh federal-government closures too. Rural divisions in southwest Virginia or the Northern Neck often close first, since a single icy back road can strand a bus for hours.

Why does Northern Virginia get more snow than the rest of the state?

Northern Virginia sits farther from the moderating Atlantic and closer to the storm track nor'easters follow up the East Coast, plus higher elevation toward the Blue Ridge foothills. The clearest proof came during the February 5-6, 2010 Snowmageddon storm, when Dulles Airport measured 32.4 inches, the highest total of any regional airport, according to Loudoun County historical records. Richmond and Norfolk, hundreds of miles south and east, saw only a fraction of that same system.

What was the I-95 shutdown in January 2022?

A fast-intensifying storm dropped snow at over three inches an hour near Fredericksburg on January 3, 2022, and a jackknifed truck triggered a chain-reaction pileup. Interstate 95 stayed closed in both directions between mile markers 104 and 139 for roughly 22 hours, stranding thousands of drivers overnight, including a U.S. senator stuck for 27 hours. Virginia's inspector general later audited the response.

Does Virginia Beach or Hampton Roads ever close schools for snow?

Rarely, but it happens. Hampton Roads sits close enough to the Atlantic that most winter storms arrive as rain or a rain-snow mix, and Virginia Beach averages only a few inches of snow most years. When a rare heavy system does hit, like the January 2016 blizzard, schools close fast because the region owns few snowplows built for it.

Why does the Shenandoah Valley and southwest Virginia get more snow than the Piedmont?

Elevation does most of the work. Roanoke and the Blue Ridge foothills sit at 900 to 1,500 feet, and the mountains squeeze extra moisture out of passing systems through upslope snow. Add cold air that pools in valleys like the Shenandoah's, and towns such as Winchester and Blacksburg regularly out-snow Richmond and Virginia Beach combined in a given winter.

Where can I check real-time road conditions during a Virginia winter storm?

VDOT runs 511 Virginia, which shows live traffic cameras, lane closures, and treatment status statewide at 511virginia.org or by calling 511. Pair that with alerts from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and your local NWS office, since Baltimore/Washington, Wakefield, and Blacksburg each forecast a different slice of the state and issue their own winter storm warnings.