Do you need a snowblower in Pittsburgh, PA?
The machine for a Pittsburgh driveway
Cordless single-stage
Plenty falls in Pittsburgh, about 5.7 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.
How much snow Pittsburgh gets
- Snow a year
- 44 in
- Storms of 5 in or more
- 1.1 a winter
- Storms of 10 in or more
- almost never
- Days with snow on the ground
- 40
Moderate, a typical snowy-city winter. That is about 1.2 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 5.7 tons of snow to move in a season, and a 10 inch storm weighs 2,600 pounds.
When the snow comes in Pittsburgh
- Oct0.4
- Nov2.4
- Dec7.7
- Jan13.3
- Feb11.7
- Mar7.6
- Apr1.0
Snow worth clearing runs from November to April, heaviest in January. Start and service a machine in October.
Pittsburgh and its neighbours
Pittsburgh is number 13 of 68 Pennsylvania towns here for snowfall; Erie gets the most at 104 inches.
| Town | Miles | Snow | Two car, paved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baldwin, PA | 4 | 25 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Munhall, PA | 5 | 25 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Wilkinsburg, PA | 5 | 25 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Whitehall, PA | 6 | 25 in | Cordless single-stage |
| West Mifflin, PA | 7 | 25 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Bethel Park, PA | 9 | 32 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 Pittsburgh International Airport, 12.9 miles from Pittsburgh. 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.