Yearly Snowfall Data

The average yearly snowfall hours for many US cities according to the 1999 ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers) Application Handbook. Use these hours to help you estimate how many hours an outdoor snow melting or deicing system may be on during the winter season.

The average per year snow fall hours of many U.S. cities are presented below. These hours are taken from the 1999 ASHRAE Applications Handbook, Chapter 49 Snow Melting, Table 1 Frequencies of Snow-Melting Loads.

The snow falls were measured at airport weather stations on top of 30' high platforms. The average per year hours were calculated from measurements taken over a 12 year period.

• Local microclimate and site-specific conditions will cause your actual snow fall hours and hours of accumulation to vary from the numbers on the table.

  • Microclimates include location, wind patterns, lake effects, flat or mountainous region, etc.

  • Site specific conditions include height and distance of nearby buildings, amount of insulation installed beneath the slab, slab edge and back losses, slab size, etc.

  • Please keep in mind that you will not need to use your snow melting system during every snowfall hour, only when the surface is cold enough for snow to accumulate.

Our recommendation is to take worst, best, and most likely cases. Think about your own last several winters and average from there. If you are designing a system for use in an unfamiliar local climate, ask local contacts, check with the library, or give us a call and we may be able to assist you.
 

City	State	Snowfall Hours Per Year
Albany	NY	156
Albuquerque	NM	44
Amarillo	TX	64
Billings	MT	225
Bismarck	ND	158
Boise	ID	85
Boston	MA	112
Buffalo	NY	292
Burlington	VT	204
Cheyenne	WY	224
Chicago	IL	124
Cleveland	OH	188
Colorado Springs	CO	159
Columbus	OH	92
Des Moines	IA	127
Detroit	MI	153
Duluth	MN	238
Ely	NV	153
Eugene	OR	18
Fairbanks	AK	288
Baltimore	MD	56
Great Falls	MT	233
Indianapolis	IN	96
Lexington	KY	50
Madison	WI	161
Memphis	TN	13
Milwaukee	WI	161
Minneapolis	MN	199
New York	NY	61
Oklahoma City	OK	35
Omaha	NE	94
Peoria	IL	91
Philadelphia	PA	56
Pittsburgh	PA	168
Portland	ME	157
Portland	OR	15
Rapid City	SD	177
Reno	NV	63
Salt Lake City	UT	142
Sault Ste. Marie	MI	425
Seattle	WA	27
Spokane	WA	144
Springfield	MO	58
St. Louis	MO	62
Topeka	KS	61
Wichita	KS	60

© 2005