More Snow Days Expected this School Year

The Cheshire school year begins on Aug. 27 with a few snow days built into the calendar. Sometimes the extra days aren't enough, though. Consider the winter of 2010-2011 which caused so many closings, the last day of school was extended into late June, 2011.

The mild winter of 2011-2012, however, saw low snowfall amounts and few districts canceled school because of snow.

But experts believe this winter will be another tough one, causing plenty of school closings. 

Forecasters with AccuWeather.com are projecting a weak to moderate El Niño will begin to dominate weather patterns in the Northeast by late in the summer. A weak El Niño, warm tropical air masses that blow west to east, brings with it greater snowfalls in the winter.

If you’re a kid hoping for a school snow day, a weak El Niño is the answer to your prayers.

"Historically, both strong La Niñas and weak El Niños have produced higher-than-average snowfall in the Northeastern U.S.," said Jack Boston, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather.com.

While there was little snowfall in the state last winter, Connecticut still saw enough disruptive weather to complicate school schedules during the academic year.

First, there was Tropical Storm Irene, which hit in late August last year, cutting power to about 800,000 across the state and forcing many school districts to delay the start of the school year, some by nearly a week.

Then, a freak October snowstorm that hit around Halloween again cut power to hundreds of thousands in Connecticut and forced school districts to close.