SnowfallCheck

Do you need a snowblower in Detroit Lakes, MN?

Your answer for Detroit Lakes

Gas single-stage

Detroit Lakes gets enough snow that shovelling it all is a real job, about 6.2 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.

How much snow Detroit Lakes gets

Snow a year
48 in
Storms of 5 in or more
1.7 a winter
Storms of 10 in or more
about once every 10 winters
Days with snow on the ground
124

Moderate, a typical snowy-city winter. That is about 1.3 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 6.2 tons of snow to move in a season, and a 10 inch storm weighs 2,600 pounds.

When the snow comes in Detroit Lakes

  1. Oct1.1
  2. Nov4.8
  3. Dec11.0
  4. Jan8.3
  5. Feb9.4
  6. Mar7.7
  7. Apr5.3

Snow worth clearing runs from October to April, heaviest in December. Start and service a machine in September.

Detroit Lakes and its neighbours

Detroit Lakes is number 47 of 103 Minnesota towns here for snowfall; Hermantown gets the most at 90 inches.

TownMilesSnowTwo car, paved
Fergus Falls, MN3850 inGas single-stage
Moorhead, MN4353 inGas single-stage
Fargo, ND4753 inGas single-stage
West Fargo, ND5051 inGas single-stage
Bemidji, MN6549 inGas single-stage
Alexandria, MN6846 inGas 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 Detroit Lakes 1 NNE, 2.1 miles from Detroit Lakes. 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.