This winter may bring more snow to DC than past years, which could increase school cancellations. Students and teachers at Jackson-Reed have varying opinions on the outcome of cancellations.
According to the Capital Weather Gang, this December could be the coldest that DC has seen in years. DC has had no snow in December for the past eight years. However, with a light snowfall Friday, December 5th, this year has already changed that. While there was no DCPS cancellation on December 5th, the upcoming months bring possibilities of heavier snow and school delays.
Because of difficulties in predicting snowfall, winter models range from moderate to heavy amounts of snow for this winter. The Washington Post anticipates that this winter will be two to four degrees colder than normal. Last year, fifteen inches of snow fell in DC over the course of the winter, with the average winter snowfall being 13.7 inches. This year, similar weather is predicted, with the NBC Storm Team 4 predicting 13 to 20 inches of snow this winter for the DC metro area.
To predict snowfall, many meteorologists examine the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which is a climactic phenomenon that is made up of changing ocean temperature in the Central and Eastern Pacific Ocean and the resultant changes in atmosphere. In years with weak La Niña phases, DC often receives colder winters and heavier snow. The 2025-26 ENSO is in a weak La Niña, which suggests that snow may be heavy. Additionally, while comparing this year’s weather patterns to past years with similar weather, the NBC Storm Team has found that when similar weather patterns occurred in the past, there has been heavy snowfall, such as winter 2013-2014, when DC received thirty-two inches of snow, way above average.
The possibility for cancellations due to snow prompts mixed reactions at Jackson-Reed. Some students are excited, like Sophomore Blake Gillespie who “loves snow days.” She thinks they “provide for us a well-needed break,” and that students can use them “as a chance to catch up on work and have fun with friends and family that they wouldn’t usually have time for.” Similarly, Junior Louise O’Connell believes that “snow days really help us to relax and have fun when we’re so stressed.”
On the other hand, some teachers are worried that school cancellations may set classes behind the required curriculum. AP classes have very strict schedules and curriculum that must be fully taught by May in time for AP testing. One anonymous teacher is concerned that if there is a lot of snow this year, it will lead to cancellations and their classes may fall behind on lessons. This will make it harder to teach what is needed and lead to possible difficulties.
English teacher Joseph Welch, on the other hand, does not think disruptions due to snow days are significant, saying that “while snow days do disrupt our schedule, our schedule gets disrupted so much that, as a teacher, you get used to it.”
Snowfall is very difficult to predict because there is no fully accurate method, so even though many meteorologists have used data to predict that snowfall will be heavy, there is also a possibility that DC will receive little or no snow. •