SnowfallCheck

Do you need a snowblower in Royal Oak, MI?

What clears snow in Royal Oak

Cordless single-stage

Plenty falls in Royal Oak, about 4.7 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.

A normal Royal Oak winter

Snow a year
36 in
Storms of 5 in or more
1.1 a winter
Storms of 10 in or more
about once every 10 winters
Days with snow on the ground
62

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 4.7 tons of snow to move in a season, and a 10 inch storm weighs 2,600 pounds.

When the snow comes in Royal Oak

  1. Oct0.1
  2. Nov1.7
  3. Dec8.1
  4. Jan12.1
  5. Feb9.0
  6. Mar4.1
  7. Apr0.9

Snow worth clearing runs from November to March, heaviest in January. Start and service a machine in October.

Royal Oak and its neighbours

Royal Oak is number 58 of 90 Michigan towns here for snowfall; Sault Ste. Marie gets the most at 120 inches.

TownMilesSnowTwo car, paved
Berkley, MI236 inGas single-stage
Clawson, MI236 inCordless single-stage
Madison Heights, MI336 inCordless single-stage
Oak Park, MI336 inGas single-stage
Ferndale, MI431 inCordless single-stage
Birmingham, MI436 inCordless 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 Pontiac Wwtp, 10.4 miles from Royal Oak. 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.