Do you need a snowblower in Waterloo, IA?
The machine for a Waterloo driveway
Cordless single-stage
Plenty falls in Waterloo, about 5.1 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.
What a Waterloo winter brings
- Snow a year
- 39 in
- Storms of 5 in or more
- 1.2 a winter
- Storms of 10 in or more
- almost never
- 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 Waterloo
- Oct0.3
- Nov3.1
- Dec9.9
- Jan10.1
- Feb9.3
- Mar4.6
- Apr1.7
- May0.1
Snow worth clearing runs from November to April, heaviest in January. Start and service a machine in October.
Waterloo and its neighbours
Waterloo is number 3 of 41 Iowa towns here for snowfall; Mason City gets the most at 44 inches.
| Town | Miles | Snow | Two car, paved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Falls, IA | 6 | 39 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Waverly, IA | 17 | 39 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Marshalltown, IA | 42 | 25 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Marion, IA | 50 | 34 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Cedar Rapids, IA | 50 | 34 in | Cordless single-stage |
| Mason City, IA | 62 | 44 in | Gas 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 Waterloo Municipal Airport, 5.0 miles from Waterloo. 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.