Do you need a snowblower in Forest Lake, MN?
The machine for a Forest Lake driveway
Gas single-stage
Forest Lake gets enough snow that shovelling it all is a real job, about 6.7 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.
A normal Forest Lake winter
- Snow a year
- 52 in
- Storms of 5 in or more
- 1.7 a winter
- Storms of 10 in or more
- about once every 3 winters
- Days with snow on the ground
- 106
Heavy, more than most snowy cities. That is about 1.4 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 6.7 tons of snow to move in a season, and a 10 inch storm weighs 2,600 pounds.
When the snow comes in Forest Lake
- Oct0.6
- Nov7.4
- Dec11.8
- Jan9.6
- Feb9.3
- Mar9.2
- Apr3.7
Snow worth clearing runs from November to April, heaviest in December. Start and service a machine in October.
Forest Lake and its neighbours
Forest Lake is number 26 of 103 Minnesota towns here for snowfall; Hermantown gets the most at 90 inches.
| Town | Miles | Snow | Two car, paved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hugo, MN | 6 | 52 in | Gas single-stage |
| Lino Lakes, MN | 9 | 44 in | Gas single-stage |
| Ham Lake, MN | 11 | 44 in | Gas single-stage |
| Blaine, MN | 13 | 44 in | Gas single-stage |
| White Bear Lake, MN | 13 | 40 in | Cordless single-stage |
| East Bethel, MN | 14 | 64 in | Two-stage snowblower |
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 Forest Lake 5NE, 6.5 miles from Forest Lake. 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.