Do you need a snowblower in Rochester, NH?
The machine for a Rochester driveway
Two-stage snowblower
A storm of 10 inches or more hits Rochester 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.
A normal Rochester winter
- Snow a year
- 39 in
- Storms of 5 in or more
- 3.2 a winter
- Storms of 10 in or more
- about once every 2 winters
- Days with snow on the ground
- 64
Moderate, a typical snowy-city winter. About 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 5.1 tons of snow to move in a season, and a 10 inch storm weighs 2,600 pounds.
When the snow comes in Rochester
- Oct0.2
- Nov1.3
- Dec8.9
- Jan10.8
- Feb9.1
- Mar6.8
- Apr1.8
Snow worth clearing runs from November to April, heaviest in January. Start and service a machine in October.
Towns near Rochester
Rochester is number 10 of 11 New Hampshire towns here for snowfall; Concord gets the most at 68 inches.
| Town | Miles | Snow | Two car, paved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somersworth, NH | 5 | 39 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Dover, NH | 9 | 39 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Sanford, ME | 14 | 70 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Portsmouth, NH | 19 | 56 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Concord, NH | 30 | 68 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Biddeford, ME | 31 | 49 in | Two-stage snowblower |
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 Durham, 10.8 miles from Rochester. 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.