Do you need a snowblower in Zion, IL?
The machine for a Zion driveway
Gas single-stage
Zion gets enough snow that shovelling it all is a real job, about 4.7 tons a winter on this driveway, but storms over 8 inches are uncommon.
Before you buy, check the intake height against the deepest storm above, and plan to clear before the city plow leaves its ridge of heavy slush at the end of the drive.
A normal Zion winter
- Snow a year
- 36 in
- Storms of 5 in or more
- 1.7 a winter
- Storms of 10 in or more
- about once every 3 winters
- Days with snow on the ground
- 44
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 Zion
- Oct0.1
- Nov1.5
- Dec7.0
- Jan11.3
- Feb9.8
- Mar5.7
- Apr0.8
Snow worth clearing runs from November to March, heaviest in January. Start and service a machine in October.
Towns near Zion
Zion is number 83 of 225 Illinois towns here for snowfall; St. Charles gets the most at 46 inches.
| Town | Miles | Snow | Two car, paved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beach Park, IL | 2 | 36 in | Gas single-stage |
| Pleasant Prairie, WI | 5 | 36 in | Gas single-stage |
| Waukegan, IL | 6 | 43 in | Gas single-stage |
| Gurnee, IL | 8 | 43 in | Gas single-stage |
| Kenosha, WI | 9 | 36 in | Gas single-stage |
| Lindenhurst, IL | 9 | 43 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 Kenosha, 7.2 miles from Zion. 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.