Do you need a snowblower in Chicago, IL?
What clears snow in Chicago
Cordless single-stage
Plenty falls in Chicago, about 5.0 tons a winter on this driveway, but it comes in shallow storms a small cordless machine can take in.
Before you buy, check the battery is rated to clear the whole driveway in one charge in the cold, or get a second battery. Batteries lose range below freezing.
What a Chicago winter brings
- Snow a year
- 39 in
- Storms of 5 in or more
- 1.4 a winter
- Storms of 10 in or more
- about once every 5 winters
- Days with snow on the ground
- 44
Moderate, a typical snowy-city winter. About 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 5.0 tons of snow to move in a season, and a 10 inch storm weighs 2,600 pounds.
When the snow comes in Chicago
- Oct0.1
- Nov1.5
- Dec7.9
- Jan12.5
- Feb10.1
- Mar5.7
- Apr1.0
Snow worth clearing runs from November to April, heaviest in January. Start and service a machine in October.
Chicago and its neighbours
Chicago is number 38 of 225 Illinois towns here for snowfall; St. Charles gets the most at 46 inches.
| Town | Miles | Snow | Two car, paved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cicero, IL | 4 | 39 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Berwyn, IL | 5 | 39 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Oak Park, IL | 6 | 42 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Forest Park, IL | 7 | 42 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Lyons, IL | 7 | 39 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Summit, IL | 7 | 39 in | Cordless single-stage |
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 Chicago Midway Airport 3SW, 8.4 miles from Chicago. 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.