Do you need a snowblower in Anchorage, AK?
What clears snow in Anchorage
Gas single-stage
Anchorage gets enough snow that shovelling it all is a real job, about 7.7 tons a winter on this driveway, but storms over 8 inches are uncommon.
Before you buy, check the intake height against the deepest storm above, and plan to clear before the city plow leaves its ridge of heavy slush at the end of the drive.
What a Anchorage winter brings
- Snow a year
- 59 in
- Storms of 5 in or more
- 2.9 a winter
- Storms of 10 in or more
- about once every 3 winters
- Days with snow on the ground
- 154
Heavy, more than most snowy cities. That is about 1.6 times what a typical snowy US city gets. It tends to stay, so each storm lands on the last one.
On a two car driveway that is about 7.7 tons of snow to move in a season, and a 10 inch storm weighs 2,600 pounds.
When the snow comes in Anchorage
- Sep0.1
- Oct5.7
- Nov10.7
- Dec16.1
- Jan10.3
- Feb7.6
- Mar7.2
- Apr1.6
Snow worth clearing runs from October to April, heaviest in December. Start and service a machine in September.
Anchorage and its neighbours
Anchorage is number 3 of 4 Alaska towns here for snowfall; Juneau gets the most at 88 inches.
| Town | Miles | Snow | Two car, paved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wasilla, AK | 29 | 62 in | Gas single-stage |
| Fairbanks, AK | 258 | 58 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Juneau, AK | 558 | 88 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Lynden, WA | 1340 | 11 in | A shovel is enough |
| Ferndale, WA | 1341 | 3 in | A shovel is enough |
| Bellingham, WA | 1350 | 3 in | A shovel is enough |
Where these numbers come from
Read next: Snowblowers on a gravel driveway and Single-stage or two-stage.
NOAA 1991 to 2020 climate normals from Eagle Rvr 5 SE, 9.9 miles from Anchorage. A normal winter, not this winter's forecast. Snow is weighed at 6.24 pounds a cubic foot, fresh and fairly dry; wet spring snow can weigh three times that.