Report Says Norton Students Should See More Snow Days This Year

A new report from AccuWeather.com expects more snow this winter as a result of a weak to moderate El Niño.

The presence of El Niño or La Niña - and their strength - is used to project how active the winter season is going to be, according to Samantha Kramer, a staff writer for AccuWeather.com. Kramer says the website's long-range meteorologists are projecting a weak to moderate El Niño by late in the summer.

"For kids praying to hear school's out for a snow day, the weaker the El Niño, the better," Kramer writes. "Weak El Niños have brought snow-packed winters to most major Northeast cities in the past, according to AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Jack Boston."

In contrast, weak La Niñas and strong El Niños historically bring lower-than-average snowfall, according to the report and that is exactly what happened in Norton this past winter.

Throughout the country last year, at least nine of its snowiest cities had less than 60 percent of their average snowfall, according to USA Today, which caused many schools to end the year early because they hadn't used up all their snow days.

In Norton, the district’s last day of school was June 18 for kindergarten and June 19 for grades 1 through 12 as a result of zero snow days. Even during  "," when a Halloween snowstorm ripped through town causing power outages, the snow was cleared away and the doors to schools were open Monday morning.

The AccuWeather.com Long-Range Forecasting Team is predicting an average season of about five hurricanes and 12 tropical storms - less active than last year's seven hurricanes and 19 tropical storms.

Hurricane season peaks in September and officially runs until Nov. 30.

The Atlantic Hurricane season affects the southern coast from Texas to Florida, as well as a large portion of the eastern coast from Florida all the way up through North Carolina, and can even impact cities as far north as New York or Boston, including towns like Foxborough as seen with Tropical Storm Irene.

Norton's last day of school for students this year is scheduled for Wednesday, June 19, but if AccuWeather.com's projections are true, it will likely be later.

For a complete look at the school calendar, click here.