Key takeaways
- About 10 visits at a 2-inch trigger in a typical winter; the middle half of the last 30 winters ran 7 to 12.
- The range is wide: 5 visits in the lightest winters, 21 in 2013-14.
- January and February produced 132 of the 211 two-inch snow days in 30 winters, more than 60 percent.
- At the $75 minimum, a typical winter is about $750 of per-visit snow removal, and most winters land between $525 and $900.
On this page
How much snow falls in a typical winter?
Over the 30 winters from 1996-97 through 2025-26, Detroit Metro Airport averaged 44.1 inches of snow a season, with a median of 41.3. The lightest was 23.4 inches in 1997-98 and the heaviest 94.9 inches in 2013-14. The National Weather Service's official 1991-2020 normal is 45.0 inches.
Totals do not set a snow bill, though. Visits do, and visits depend on how the snow arrives.
How many times does it snow 2 inches or more?
We counted two ways. A day is one calendar day's snowfall. An event adds up consecutive days of measurable snow, so a storm that runs past midnight counts once.
| At least | Days per winter | Snow events per winter |
|---|---|---|
| 1 inch | 13.5 | 10.3 |
| 2 inches | 7.0 | 7.2 |
| 4 inches | 2.5 | 3.8 |
| 6 inches | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| 10 inches | Not counted | 0.6 |
Averages for Detroit Metro Airport, 1996-97 through 2025-26. Two-inch days ranged from 2 to 15 a winter (median 6) and two-inch events from 3 to 13 (median 7). The most 6-inch events in one winter was 6, in 2013-14.
How many plow visits does that add up to?
Events still undercount the work, because snow piles up between storms. Two 1.5-inch snows two days apart, with no thaw between, make one 3-inch driveway. So we modeled visits the way a trigger works: snow accumulates between clearings, a visit happens when the total reaches the trigger, and the count resets when the ground goes bare.
| Trigger | Average visits | Median | Middle half of winters | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 inches (residential) | 10.0 | 10 | 7 to 12 | 5 to 21 |
| 1 inch (commercial) | 15.5 | 14.5 | 13 to 18 | 7 to 29 |
The lightest 2-inch winters, at 5 visits, were 1997-98, 2003-04 and 2024-25. The heaviest was 2013-14, at 21.
What did the last 10 winters look like?
| Winter | Snowfall | 2-inch events | Modeled visits at 2 inches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | 37.9 in | 5 | 6 |
| 2017-18 | 61.0 in | 9 | 12 |
| 2018-19 | 31.3 in | 5 | 7 |
| 2019-20 | 43.7 in | 6 | 7 |
| 2020-21 | 44.9 in | 8 | 11 |
| 2021-22 | 47.1 in | 8 | 11 |
| 2022-23 | 37.1 in | 7 | 8 |
| 2023-24 | 23.5 in | 4 | 6 |
| 2024-25 | 28.7 in | 3 | 5 |
| 2025-26 | 39.5 in | 7 | 12 |
Notice 2025-26: 39.5 inches produced 12 modeled visits, as many as the 61.0-inch winter of 2017-18, because more of it came in small snows that added up between clearings. Snowfall totals and visit counts do not move together.
When do the plowable snows come?
Across the 30 winters there were 211 days with 2 inches or more: 9 in November, 34 in December, 71 in January, 61 in February, 28 in March and 8 in April. January and February together account for 132 of them. Early and late storms are covered in when it first snows in Macomb County.
What does that mean for a snow budget?
Most one- and two-car driveways are under about 1,050 square feet and pay the $75 per-visit minimum. At that price:
- A typical 10-visit winter is about $750.
- The middle half of winters, 7 to 12 visits, runs $525 to $900.
- The lightest winters, at 5 visits, would have cost $375; the heaviest, at 21, $1,575.
A 1,600-square-foot driveway, about a three-car drive with a turnaround, is $114.40 a visit, or about $1,144 in a 10-visit winter. Price your own on the snow removal calculator, then decide whether a fixed seasonal price or per-visit billing suits you: seasonal vs per-push.
How we counted, and the limits
- Source. NOAA daily snowfall for Detroit Metro Airport (station USW00094847), the official NWS station for southeast Michigan, retrieved through the Regional Climate Centers' Applied Climate Information System (ACIS). Seasons run July to June.
- Distance. The airport is in Romulus, about 25 miles from Warren, 35 from Mount Clemens and 50 from Richmond. It is a regional benchmark, not a reading of your street.
- Inside the county. Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, on the lakeshore (complete record 2017-18 to 2025-26), averaged about 28.8 inches and 5.0 two-inch events a winter. Richmond 4 NNW, a cooperative station in the north county (2009-10 to 2025-26, a few missing days), averaged 41.2 inches and 7.0 two-inch events. The lakeshore gets less, which matches what Macomb County snowfall averages says about Lake St. Clair.
- Daily totals. The counts use calendar-day totals, not hour-by-hour data.
- No partial melting. The model only resets on bare ground, so a sunny day that shrinks a 1.5-inch snow is not counted.
- Long storms. A storm that runs all day can need a second pass, which the model counts as one visit.
- Timing. Real visits depend on when snow ends relative to the route.
Sources
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers: xmACIS2, Applied Climate Information System — daily snowfall, Detroit Metro Airport, 1996-97 to 2025-26
- RCC-ACIS: ACIS web services — the data service used for the counts
- NOAA NCEI: Detroit Metro Airport station record (USW00094847)
- NWS Detroit/Pontiac: 1991-2020 climate normals — Detroit seasonal snowfall normal of 45.0 inches
- NWS Detroit/Pontiac: top 20 snowiest and least snowy seasons — 2013-14 ranks first at 94.9 inches
Written by the Macomb Lawn & Snow Solutions team in Macomb Township, Michigan. We plow and salt homes and businesses across all 26 Macomb County communities, November 15 to April 15. Published October 5, 2026. About us · How we research these guides · How our dispatch works