IWCS declares ‘snow day’ in May

Published 3:59 pm Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Isle of Wight County Schools will have a “snow day” in May.

The School Board voted unanimously on April 6 to designate May 26 as a holiday for staff and students, giving them a four-day Memorial Day weekend that will extend through May 29.

Virginia’s Administrative Code requires each school year to be 180 days, or 990 instructional hours. According to school division spokeswoman Lynn Briggs, Isle of Wight has “quite a bit of time banked up” as a result of not having had a single snow day this past winter.

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Southeastern Virginia averaged 5.6 inches of snow per year from 1981 to 2010, according to National Weather Service records, but saw little to no snowfall this year. On Feb. 23, the Smithfield area saw a record-tying high temperature of 79 degrees, matching the high on that date in 1975.

According to NWS records, the only time on record when southeastern Virginia, as measured from Norfolk, saw no snowfall whatsoever was the winter of 1931-32. The last time southeast Virginia saw the same minimal amount of flurries as this year was the winter of 2008-09.