SnowfallCheck

Do you need a snowblower in Branson, MO?

The machine for a Branson driveway

A shovel is enough

A normal winter drops about 0.9 tons of snow on this driveway in Branson, spread over a few light falls. That is shovel work.

Get a wide plastic shovel with a bent handle before the first fall, and if you have a bad back, consider a cordless single-stage instead: the snow in Branson is light enough for one.

What a Branson winter brings

Snow a year
7 in
Storms of 5 in or more
0.4 a winter
Storms of 10 in or more
almost never
Days with snow on the ground
7

Light, below most snowy cities. A typical snowy US city gets about 5.0 times as much. Most of it melts within a few days, so in Branson waiting a day is often a real option.

On a two car driveway that is about 0.9 tons of snow to move in a season, and a 10 inch storm weighs 2,600 pounds.

When the snow comes in Branson

  1. Dec1.7
  2. Jan2.3
  3. Feb1.8
  4. Mar1.0

Snow worth clearing runs from December to March, heaviest in January. Buy the shovel before the first fall, when stores still have them.

Branson and its neighbours

Branson is number 76 of 80 Missouri towns here for snowfall; St. Joseph gets the most at 21 inches.

TownMilesSnowTwo car, paved
Harrison, AR2710 inA shovel is enough
Ozark, MO297 inA shovel is enough
Nixa, MO307 inA shovel is enough
Republic, MO3914 inA shovel is enough
Springfield, MO4014 inA shovel is enough
Monett, MO417 inA shovel is enough

Where these numbers come from

Read next: What a winter of snow weighs and Why storm depth matters more than snowfall.

NOAA 1991 to 2020 climate normals from Ozark Beach, 11.1 miles from Branson. 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.