Carroll school officials are happy that the recent snowstorm blanketing the area made for a white Christmas and not a day where school had to be canceled.

They have used three of the four snow days built into this year's school calendar - a number reduced a few years ago after mild winters lulled school officials into thinking that four snow days were plenty for Maryland.

Now, with forecasters predicting more precipitation before season's end, the implications of that decision could induce more dread than the prospect of standing in line at the grocery when meteorologists call for snow. If children miss more than four days of school because of weather cancellations, their summer vacation probably will be delayed.

Or the school day could grow longer.

That's what happened in the mid-1990s when ice storms and blizzards closed Carroll schools for as many as 13 days - more than four times the number of snow days allotted. Four or five days of summer vacation were canceled, and an hour was added to the school day for seven weeks in the spring.

"Prior to that, we had only ever allowed three snow days in the calendar for 30 or 40 years," said Stephen Guthrie, the Carroll school district's assistant superintendent of administration. "After that, the [school] board voted to have at least five snow days in the school year."

But several mild winters tempted school board members to reduce the allowance to four days. And, for the past two winters, schools haven't used those. Instead, students have won more days off during their spring breaks, Memorial Day weekend and summer vacation.

Few expect them to be so lucky this year.

"Let's put it this way," said Dewey Walston, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "December is usually not the snowiest month in the Baltimore area. January and February are."

More snow

With 9.7 inches of snowfall this month - up from the December average of 1.7 inches - the odds are good that more snow will fall, he said.

"How much? We don't know until within a day or two of each storm," Walston said. "Our only long-term forecasting is pretty vague. ... We're predicting a winter that's pretty normal for this year, but compared to the last few years, it probably will seem colder and snowier because the last few winters have been so mild and lacking in snow."

Superintendent Charles I. Ecker said he would not worry whether the school district is using its allotted snow days.

'Not a concern'

"The number of days remaining or how long students might have to go to school in June is not a concern," he said.

"We are not going to have school on any day when it appears safety may be ... an issue. That will have no bearing on my decision to cancel or not cancel school in snow."

Guthrie might be considered the school district's honorary amateur meteorologist.

"I did predict when we were working on the calendar that we might be in trouble this year because I read in the Farmer's Almanac that 42 inches of snow was expected this year," he said, chuckling.

"I guess we're concerned, but on the other end, it's good news for our water supply."