SultanOfSwing

It depends on where you live and the weather conditions in a given season.

Here (NE Illinois, near the Wisconsin state line), last year we had no measurable snow until February 2. Between then and mid-March, we had about 40" of snow in all on average. The most snow that fell in a single season since I've been here was 2007/08, where there was a reported 92" at our nearest weather station. The most that fell in one event since I was here was the blizzard of 2011, when 22"+ of snow fell in the Chicago area between February 1 and 2

Excuse the statto crap, I've worked for landscapers that do snow removal, doing the billing, since I started working in the US, so I'm very involved in the snow seasons and I tend to know how much falls and when ...

On average, unless I'm quick to respond, I'll usually find myself shoveling about 2-4 inches off my drive on the morning after a snowfall.

AilsWallace

Am hoping NJ is a little lighter than your part of the world then.
We've got some snow shovels with us from the last couple of winters over in the UK and the husband is actually looking forward to clearing our own wee driveway.
Apparently they have had the first snow of the year up in the Cairngorms...everyone, get your skis on!!

SultanOfSwing

I wouldn't count on it. I have heard that snow can be worse in the northeast than here. It'll depend on the various air currents at play, of course.

AilsWallace

oh bugger...ah well, at least I can improve on my snowman construction skills then

SultanOfSwing

There you go.

Of course, you could end up with a warmer winter, or one with less precipitation. It can be quite inconsistent, even within a region, much less nationwide.

Bob

Aye, it's much better...and also easier to wash off than the grit mix which sticks to everything.

It is more expensive though and it does attract the animals to the side of the roads and with the motorways and most roads not having lighting around here, that's a big cause for quite a few accidents.

Pulaski

Yeah, it's been pretty bad for the past two years from DC and northern Virginia all the way up into New England, with several major snow storms including one doozy where two storm systems merged over Pennsylvania, coming from the south and west.

In the winter of 2001-2002 I was living in the northern suburbs of NYC, and we saw snow twice, of which the worse by far was the 3" that fell one Saturday morning from mid-morning to early afternoon.

AilsWallace

The husband has a weather station packed up in our shipping container. He's dying to get it set up so he can start watching the weather here on the east coast.

Bob

Oh you would be so wrong.

Chuck those shovels from the UK out in the bin and get proper snow shovels, preferably the ones with metal head and sharpened edge, will make life easier and quicker and you'll do well to get one with a bend in the handle as it won't kill the back as much.

It's all about momentum, depending on the snow, you either run it down or chuck it to the side as fast as you can as you motor down the driveway.

Bob

It's the ice storms that are the killer, or the freezing rain. They do so much damage and knock the power out for so long.

SultanOfSwing

I think it would be much worse here if we didn't have that stretch in January/February where it gets down below 10F and lower for an extended period. I'm just making an educated guess here but out by you I'd assume it doesn't get that cold, or at least not for as long as it can here.

AilsWallace

top tip! thanks,.. will keep an eye out for those.

Pulaski

Yeah, it's the ice storms that are the bigger threat round here too, though there hasn't been a major one since the winter of 2002-2003, thankfully. There was a very destructive one in December 2002, but that was just before I moved here. A few weeks later in early 2003 I went out to my car (I was still living in a hotel at the time), and it looked like my car had been frozen inside a giant ice cube. There was a solid, and eerily clear ½" layer of ice covering the whole car. Even the doors wouldn't pop open with the remote. In the following ten years it has never been that bad.
You'd be correct, the overnight low temperatures during the winter are comparable to those in the UK most of the time, with anything below 20°F being relatively unusual, and below 15°F is headed for record low (for the day) territory. The big difference though is how much warmth the sun brings because I am so much further south thank the UK, which is why the snow usually melts on the same day.

scrubbedexpat099

Denver and the north are under water (snow that melts)

AdobePinon

The vapor pressure does not go to zero as you drop past the freezing temperature. Although the bulk of the ice will stay in the solid form at any given moment, the surface will sublime slowly as long as the quantity of airborne moisture in contact with the ice stays below the vapor pressure. This gets accelerated greatly with wind, which takes the airborne moisture away to keep the system out of equilibrium.