School Closing Outlook For Tuesday 01/27/2026
- Jonah Drake (Owner & Co-Founder)
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 8 minutes ago
Day 1 School Closing Outlook Update
Forecast Update Issued: Monday, January 26, 2026, 8:46 PM EST
Forecasters: Jonah Drake & Jacob Melton
Have upgraded much of the area along and south of I-94 to an "Elevated" risk (level 4/6). Multiple schools in this area, especially east of US-131, have already announced closures or delays for Tuesday. While we don't expect closures to be as numerous as this morning, we do feel that ongoing decision trends and the latest forecast data support an upgrade at this time.
Serious consideration was also given to upgrading parts of the lakeshore to a "Medium" risk (level 3/6), but the lack of supportive computer weather model data, pre-existing closures, and current MiDrive map data as of writing this update do not support an upgrade at this time.
Overall, we continue to anticipate scattered school closings and delays, with the highest likelihood along and south of the I-94 corridor, especially in Southeast Michigan, where poor back road conditions and the worst of the bitter cold air will have the most impact.
Day 1 School Closing Outlook
Forecast Valid: Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Forecast Issued: Monday, January 26, 2026, 3:48 PM EST
Forecasters: Jonah Drake & Jacob Melton
Summary:
There is a “Medium” risk of school closings, delays, and/or early dismissals on Tuesday as a result of continued lake-effect snow and bitter cold.
Discussion:
Additional light lake-effect snow, mainly along and west of US-131, combined with another morning of bitterly cold wind chills, could result in a few scattered closings or delays on Tuesday morning.
Not much has changed in terms of our thinking for this forecast. We still anticipate light snowfall overnight on the order of 1-3 inches, particularly along and west of US-131. Have introduced a “Limited” risk in this area to account for low-end school closing potential, particularly in districts that have a large amount of secondary roadways, which have still not fully recovered from the recent winter weather events.
As noted in yesterday’s “Day 2 Outlook,” the larger concern continues to be the risk for an additional round of bitterly cold, potentially hazardous cold weather on Tuesday morning as wind chills once again fall to values between -10°F and -20°F.
Wind chills this cold can cause hypothermia and frostbite in as little as 30 minutes, and we often begin to see scattered or even more widespread school closings and delays when it gets this cold.
The area of greatest wind chill risk, and hence with the highest potential for school closings or delays, will be along and southeast of a South Haven to Grand Rapids to Alma line. However, it is worth noting that wind chill intensity has lessened a bit since yesterday’s outlook, so school closures may be a bit more scattered, rather than widespread, and districts may even opt to go with delayed starts rather than full closures.
Graphical Forecast:
