You are likely reading this blog post because you are a curious customer wondering when you should start snow removal services and stop services. Maybe you need your steps or driveway or sidewalk shoveled, snowblown, or plowed. Maybe you want to avoid city fines. The data I’m about to show you is relevant if you live in Boston and surrounding areas/towns such as Back Bay, Charlestown, Fenway, Cambridge, South Boston, East Boston, Roslindale, Brookline, North End, Jamaica Plain, Allston, Chinatown, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Roxbury, Mattapan, Somerville, Arlington, Everett, Malden, Medford, Newton, Quincy, Revere, and Watertown.
If it’s November or April, you likely won’t need a snowblower or plow because it snows less than one inch on average. A snow shovel should be just fine, or maybe light salting. You could hire a company to take care of this, but to save money you likely could do it yourself. If you are a landlord, then your tenants could possibly do it, but if they aren’t responsible for this, it is also possible that this less than an inch of snow could turn into ice, and be a potential safety hazard to both your building occupants and/or strangers walking on the sidewalk outside.
December and March have similar snowfall amounts of around 7-8 inches of snow. At these levels, a snowblower and/or shovel is important to have on hand. You should definitely hire a snow removal company if you don’t plan on doing it yourself! At these levels of snow, it’s sometimes difficult to get your car out of the parking lot or driveway. Hard to get around, period! So make sure you are watching the weather forecast and seeing if it will snow and how much. Also, during these months it is possible to get wet snow, a mixture of rain and snow, which makes the snow very heavy and difficult to move/shovel/blow. Wet snow if not taken care of quickly could also become ice if the temps drop below 32°F after it rains! So hiring a good reliable snow removal company like Roger’s Snow Removal is important to have peace of mind. Waiting too long will require de-icing the property and because high-quality ice melt is expensive and hard to find at times, it’s better to not wait until the last minute or until it’s too late.
January and February are the months it snows the most in Boston. Over 1 foot of snow, ranging in the 13-15 inches per month range. We definitely recommend unlimited visits and unlimited snow plans where you pay the same amount per month regardless of how much snow falls. However, you can take your chances and go with a per snowstorm plan where you get charged for the number of inches of snow that falls. In Jan and Feb of 2022, it snowed 12-24 inches in one snowstorm! So be prepared! Also, in these months it’s possible to have 4-8 snowstorms in a month! Of course, even though the average snowfall during these months is over a foot, it can and has snowed 12 inches in Dec and March as well. In Dec of 2020, it snowed 12 inches in one snowstorm. In March of 2018, it snowed almost 24 inches! So if one thing is constant when it comes to Boston weather, it’s unpredictability! You never know what will happen on any given month or winter in Boston. Temperature fluctuations can vary by up to 30-40 degrees and precipitation can go from bone dry to very wet and snowy!
Approximately 99% of Boston's snowfall occurs between November and April. Over the past 20 years, the average monthly snowfall during these months is as follows:
Over the past 20 years, Boston's annual snowfall has ranged from a high of 110 inches during the 2014-2015 season to a low of 9.7 inches during the 2023-2024 season.
In summary, Boston snows a couple of feet of snow a year, and usually starts in December and finishes in March, and weather is very unpredictable. Recently the snowfall totals have been low for various reasons, and there are more and more wet snow situations leading to more ice buildup. It’s best to avoid city fines of $100+ each if you leave public sidewalks uncleared of snow and ice. So be sure you are clearing the snow/ice from public walkways as soon as possible (read city guidelines online on when they issue fines) otherwise hire a company like Roger’s Snow Removal to avoid fines. Some companies also pay the fines for you if you get one because they should be responsible for avoiding these fines for you. Safety is of the utmost importance! A good snow removal company will clear all snow/ice within 3-6 hours after a snowstorm’s snowfall stop time. If no one has shown up within that time frame, you have every reason to call/message that company to visit asap. If it’s a large snowstorm (defined as 6+ inches of snow), a good snow removal company will visit during the middle of the snowstorm and a total of 2-3 visits to make sure your property is properly cleared of snow.