In 2015, the Providence Public School District extended the school year due to a surplus of snow days. But a decade later, an extension to the school year of this kind is unlikely given the state’s low snowfall and a shift toward virtual learning instead of traditional snow days.
“We’re in a multi-year period where we’re getting below normal snowfall,” said Andy Nash, meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service based out of Massachusetts.
On average, Providence has received 32.6 inches of snow by this point in the year for the past three decades, Nash said. But in 2025, the Providence region has only received 15.6 inches.
Snowfall in Providence has shown a downward trend over the past 20 years. While some years, like 2015, have seen above average snowfall there have been several years where snowfall has been significantly below average.
In the case of inclement weather, districts are allowed to hold all virtual learning days, which can count toward their required instructional hours, per a bill signed by former Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo in 2017. The bill required the Rhode Island Department of Education to create a policy that allowed districts to submit instructional day plans for these virtual learning days.
For the 2024-25 school year, 32 learning educational authorities — which include districts and standalone schools — in Rhode Island have submitted virtual instruction day plans.
Ten-year-old Alice Conaty and her sister, 8-year-old Claire Conaty, are students at Dr. Joseph A. Whelan Elementary School in North Providence, who spent their most recent snow day learning online instead of sleeping in. Alice Conaty appreciated not having to go to school in person, but said she still spent most of her day doing school work, while Claire Conaty said she didn’t spend any time outside.
While Alice and Claire Conaty might not remember a time before the COVID-19 pandemic normalized online learning, older students recalled what snow days were like before virtual learning became prominent.
“Before the pandemic, when there was a snow day, it was just snow day,” said Hailey Santos, a 16-year-old student at Classical High School. “Now when they mention it, they also bring up Zoom as a possibility.”
Santos remembered having more frequent snow days when she was in elementary school, times when she “usually went out in the snow and played all day,” she said.
For Mildred Suchite, who graduated from the PPSD’s now-closed 360 High School in 2024, snow days in elementary school were a rare treat.
“I was so excited to have a day off,” she said. Suchite recalls that a snow day meant a full day off, which she took advantage of to play in the snow with her cousins.
Like Santos, Suchite noted how days off school changed significantly during the pandemic, recalling that teachers would still hold their classes, just over Zoom.
Suchite said she feels that the snow days she experienced in childhood are far more rare now.
“It doesn’t snow as often anymore,” she said. “Little kids now don’t have that opportunity to go outside and play.”
