Do you need a snowblower in Salem, MA?
The machine for a Salem driveway
Two-stage snowblower
A storm of 10 inches or more hits Salem about once a winter. 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.
What a Salem winter brings
- Snow a year
- 39 in
- Storms of 5 in or more
- 3.2 a winter
- Storms of 10 in or more
- about once a winter
- Days with snow on the ground
- 39
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 Salem
- Oct0.1
- Nov0.8
- Dec7.4
- Jan13.3
- Feb8.5
- Mar7.5
- Apr1.5
Snow worth clearing runs from December to April, heaviest in January. Start and service a machine in November.
Salem and its neighbours
Salem is number 48 of 58 Massachusetts towns here for snowfall; North Adams gets the most at 85 inches.
| Town | Miles | Snow | Two car, paved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lynn, MA | 4 | 39 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Peabody, MA | 4 | 48 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Beverly, MA | 5 | 51 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Revere, MA | 7 | 49 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Melrose, MA | 9 | 64 in | Two-stage snowblower |
| Winthrop Town, MA | 9 | 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 Marblehead, 1.7 miles from Salem. 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.