Do you need a snowblower in Harrisburg, SD?
What clears snow in Harrisburg
Gas single-stage
Harrisburg gets enough snow that shovelling it all is a real job, about 6.4 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 Harrisburg winter
- Snow a year
- 49 in
- Storms of 5 in or more
- 2.1 a winter
- Storms of 10 in or more
- about once every 10 winters
- Days with snow on the ground
- 96
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 6.4 tons of snow to move in a season, and a 10 inch storm weighs 2,600 pounds.
When the snow comes in Harrisburg
- Oct1.1
- Nov4.0
- Dec11.9
- Jan8.0
- Feb10.5
- Mar6.5
- Apr6.5
- May0.5
Snow worth clearing runs from October to April, heaviest in December. Start and service a machine in September.
Harrisburg and its neighbours
Harrisburg is number 4 of 14 South Dakota towns here for snowfall; Spearfish gets the most at 71 inches.
| Town | Miles | Snow | Two car, paved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sioux Falls, SD | 7 | 45 in | Gas single-stage |
| Brandon, SD | 13 | 49 in | Gas single-stage |
| Vermillion, SD | 46 | 36 in | Gas single-stage |
| Yankton, SD | 51 | 38 in | Gas single-stage |
| Le Mars, IA | 53 | 31 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Worthington, MN | 57 | 45 in | Gas 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 Sioux Falls 3.4 ESE, 6.8 miles from Harrisburg. 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.