Do you need a snowblower in Durango, CO?
What clears snow in Durango
Two-stage snowblower
A storm of 10 inches or more hits Durango about once every 2 winters. 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.
How much snow Durango gets
- Snow a year
- 64 in
- Storms of 5 in or more
- 3.7 a winter
- Storms of 10 in or more
- about once every 2 winters
- Days with snow on the ground
- 124
Heavy, more than most snowy cities. That is about 1.8 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 8.3 tons of snow to move in a season, and a 10 inch storm weighs 2,600 pounds.
When the snow comes in Durango
- Oct1.1
- Nov5.5
- Dec13.0
- Jan19.4
- Feb15.4
- Mar5.3
- Apr3.8
- May0.2
Snow worth clearing runs from October to April, heaviest in January. Start and service a machine in September.
Durango and its neighbours
Durango is number 15 of 53 Colorado towns here for snowfall; Steamboat Springs gets the most at 185 inches.
| Town | Miles | Snow | Two car, paved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farmington, NM | 39 | 9 in | A shovel is enough |
| Montrose, CO | 83 | 22 in | A shovel is enough |
| Gallup, NM | 130 | 21 in | A shovel is enough |
| Grand Junction, CO | 132 | 18 in | A shovel is enough |
| Española, NM | 133 | 11 in | A shovel is enough |
| Fruita, CO | 139 | 22 in | A shovel is enough |
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 Durango, 2.1 miles from Durango. 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.
- The two nearest weather stations sit at very different heights, and the second one averages 131 inches a year. Hills around Durango can get a lot more or less than this.
- Days with snow on the ground come from a second nearby station, because the closest one does not record snow depth.