SnowfallCheck

Do you need a snowblower in Sturgis, MI?

The machine for a Sturgis driveway

Cordless single-stage

Plenty falls in Sturgis, about 5.4 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 Sturgis winter

Snow a year
41 in
Storms of 5 in or more
1.2 a winter
Storms of 10 in or more
about once every 10 winters
Days with snow on the ground
60

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

When the snow comes in Sturgis

  1. Nov2.9
  2. Dec9.3
  3. Jan15.0
  4. Feb9.7
  5. Mar3.7
  6. Apr0.6

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

Towns near Sturgis

Sturgis is number 45 of 90 Michigan towns here for snowfall; Sault Ste. Marie gets the most at 120 inches.

TownMilesSnowTwo car, paved
Coldwater, MI2443 inGas single-stage
Kendallville, IN2630 inCordless single-stage
Goshen, IN2645 inCordless single-stage
Portage, MI2941 inCordless single-stage
Elkhart, IN2937 inCordless single-stage
Kalamazoo, MI3465 inTwo-stage snowblower

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 Three Rivers, 14.5 miles from Sturgis. 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.