Do you need a snowblower in Billings, MT?
The machine for a Billings driveway
Gas single-stage
Billings gets enough snow that shovelling it all is a real job, about 7.5 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.
A normal Billings winter
- Snow a year
- 57 in
- Storms of 5 in or more
- 2.2 a winter
- Storms of 10 in or more
- almost never
- Days with snow on the ground
- 55
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 7.5 tons of snow to move in a season, and a 10 inch storm weighs 2,600 pounds.
When the snow comes in Billings
- Sep0.3
- Oct4.5
- Nov6.5
- Dec9.8
- Jan10.6
- Feb9.1
- Mar8.2
- Apr7.5
- May0.9
Snow worth clearing runs from October to April, heaviest in January. Start and service a machine in September.
Towns near Billings
Billings is number 4 of 8 Montana towns here for snowfall; Bozeman gets the most at 91 inches.
| Town | Miles | Snow | Two car, paved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cody, WY | 91 | 45 in | Gas single-stage |
| Sheridan, WY | 103 | 33 in | Gas single-stage |
| Bozeman, MT | 121 | 91 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Belgrade, MT | 127 | 91 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Helena, MT | 175 | 37 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Great Falls, MT | 176 | 66 in | Two-stage snowblower |
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 Billings Logan International Airport, 1.4 miles from Billings. 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.