Weather Conditions
Get Weather Updates
In District 49, our community expects timely communications, especially during safety concerns, like inclement weather. We love the sun, and we certainly enjoy plenty of it, but we also know to expect a few changes as we settle in for winter, which can disrupt our calendar from time to time. We’ll let you know as early as we can when the weather will create an adjustment to our schedule.
The district is focused on ensuring students receive as much in-classroom opportunity as possible. Prior to delaying or canceling a day of educational services, the transportation team considers many factors and consults with many resources. The team works to make the best judgment call for our part of El Paso County.
Because each weather-related call is based on current and forecasted conditions, we often publish a final decision early in the morning, rather than the night before. But when a weather forecast is severe enough, we may issue a decision the night before. With winter conditions uncertain and further observations necessary, our crews start evaluating road conditions at midnight. Decisions to close the district are often made by 4:30 a.m.
Watch for our alerts via email, text, online at d49.org and on social media as well as from our media partners. Here are a few other items to keep in mind:
Parent Notifications: If you are a parent in District 49, you can enable "text/SMS" messages with your school administrative secretary. Ensure your parent account in PowerSchool has your correct, text/SMS capable cell number and that the account is checked "enabled" in PowerSchool. You'll receive our D49 alert messages for closures and emergencies.
We Make Our Call Early
We know delays and closures are a change to the normal routine for everyone. We work hard to make timely and informed weather decisions (frequently as early as the night before) to give parents and guardians an opportunity to plan for the disruption to their calendar.
Two-Hour Delay
We cancel morning preschool on two-hour delay days. Everything else (including bus pickups, BASE49 and bell schedules) are pushed back by two hours. Check out your school’s Bell Schedule web page for additional information. No breakfast is served on a delay.
We Don’t Close by Zone
Because we can experience conditions with varying intensity districtwide during inclement weather, and because many of our students and stakeholders travel between zones daily for school and work, for the safety of all travelers, when we close, we fully close.
Charter Campus Notifications
Our charter schools make their own weather decisions. Often, they’ll align with the D49 decision, but they are not required to do so. We encourage our charter school families to watch for weather communications directly from your school.
Remote Learning: E-Day
For the remainder of the 2025 Spring Semester we will be utilizing E-Days for remote work and learning.
Because ongoing winter weather patterns remain disruptive and could negate our adjustments, we will shift weather cancellations for all schools and levels from traditional snow days to remote learning E-days, as permitted by board policy and CDE regulation.
Shifting to E-days means we are less likely to call a 2-hour delay and more likely to opt for remote learning and working. That will increase our margin of safety and also increase our advance notification to students, staff, and families.
Schools and teachers will communicate the specifics of how they will track attendance and manage learning on E-Days. A 2-hour delay does not guarantee a shift to E-Day, so please watch for updated information on our normal channels.
When does District 49 make the final call for a closure or delay?
We begin to announce and broadcast our decision at approximately 4:45 a.m.
Often we make the final weather call early in the morning the day of a delay or closure. But when the forecast is severe enough, we may issue a decision the night before. We make our decision as early as possible in recognition that parents, students, and staff need time to adjust to the schedule change.
When conditions are uncertain and further observations are necessary, ground crews start evaluating road conditions at midnight, and then the transportation team begins a comprehensive review at about 2 a.m. The determination to close the district is always made by 5 a.m., and often by 4:30 a.m.
In addition, the transportation department must cancel or delay bus routes, which typically begin picking up students at around 5:45 a.m.
Two-hour delays are helpful when there's a foreseeable change, such as rapidly warming conditions. When a two-hour delay is deemed most appropriate, everything is postponed two hours, unless parents are specifically notified about an activity by their school. As always, parents are asked to keep in contact with their school's administration for updates on programs, such as the rescheduling of activities. Most school websites have delay information on their Bell Schedule pages.
When we delay and continue monitoring it is to review plowing progress and road conditions between 5-6 a.m. and make a close or proceed decision by 6 a.m. We do not send additional messaging if we proceed on the delay schedule. If we do decide to close, we will announce that decision via all our standard channels (the D49 website, FB, and local media) no later than 6:30 a.m. So, if you don't see a closure by 6:30 a.m., we are operating on a delay schedule. And since mountain regions often produce unstable weather, conditions may rapidly deteriorate or improve after the district makes its final call.
Two-Hour Delay
- Morning preschool is canceled.
- Morning bus pickups are delayed by two hours.
- BASE49 start time is delayed by two hours.
- No breakfast is served on a two-hour delay.
- Schools start two hours later, but check your school's bell schedule for specific details.
Subzero Temps and Frostbite
Would the district close or delay solely due to cold temperatures?
If roads are safe, schools stay open... unless it gets dangerously cold.
Safety is never just about wind chill.
Mix up the right combination of temperature, humidity and wind in the atmosphere, and we can get icing conditions at 30 degrees Fahrenheit and above. What's more, sometimes, conditions can go from safe to icy in less than an hour. Some areas in our district change faster than others. Since we must delay or close school almost three hours before the first class, there is plenty of opportunity to make a good faith decision that turns out wrong. We do our best to err on the side of safety.
When temperatures plummet, we pay attention to the thermometer, barometer, anemometer, and any other ‘ometers that can help us predict the weather.
When the combination of ambient temperature and wind speed pushes the effective temperature (wind chill) down to –18 degrees, we know we are in the danger zone for frostbite. Once the windchill nears –18 degrees, we know that exposed skin can suffer frostbite in 30 minutes.
Cold weather sweeping in with humidity, snow, ice and winds, our decision is fairly straightforward. Cold weather is one of the factors in our decision about what constitutes unsafe conditions for students, teachers, staff and especially for our transportation department. We encourage you to use the National Weather Service's online chart and calculator to explore and calculate wind chills, so you can make informed decisions before your family heads outside and into cold weather.
NOAA Weather Forecasts
NOAA is one of many sources we check for weather information. The links below go to the weather forecast for the area listed. Please select the "hourly weather forecast" for more details.
Evans Elementary: our most southern school
Pikes Peaks School of Exploratory Learning: our most northern school
Meridian Rd & County Rd 74: the most northern part of our school district
Jones Road: our most eastern part of our district
Creekside Success Center & SCHS