Do you need a snowblower in Boulder, CO?
What clears snow in Boulder
Two-stage snowblower
A storm of 10 inches or more hits Boulder about once a winter. That is deeper than a single-stage intake can swallow.
Before you buy, measure the garage door and the storage spot: these machines are wide and heavy.
What a Boulder winter brings
- Snow a year
- 85 in
- Storms of 5 in or more
- 4.9 a winter
- Storms of 10 in or more
- about once a winter
- Days with snow on the ground
- 55
Extreme, among the snowiest towns in the country. That is about 2.4 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 11.1 tons of snow to move in a season, and a 10 inch storm weighs 2,600 pounds.
When the snow comes in Boulder
- Oct6.9
- Nov8.5
- Dec14.2
- Jan10.2
- Feb17.4
- Mar13.6
- Apr11.9
- May2.5
Snow worth clearing runs from October to May, heaviest in February. Start and service a machine in September.
Boulder and its neighbours
Boulder is number 4 of 53 Colorado towns here for snowfall; Steamboat Springs gets the most at 185 inches.
| Town | Miles | Snow | Two car, paved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville, CO | 7 | 65 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Superior, CO | 8 | 68 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Lafayette, CO | 8 | 65 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Erie, CO | 11 | 65 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Broomfield, CO | 12 | 74 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Longmont, CO | 13 | 47 in | Gas single-stage |
Where these numbers come from
Read next: Single-stage or two-stage and Why storm depth matters more than snowfall.
NOAA 1991 to 2020 climate normals from Boulder 2.9 S, 2.1 miles from Boulder. 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.
- Days with snow on the ground come from a second nearby station, because the closest one does not record snow depth.