Ready for snow?

"I was picturing a leaf blower!" buyer clients and now friends moving to Maine from the south exclaimed when I recommended buying a snow blower and how absurd-looking these heavy-duty winter lifesavers truly are. Lol!

A Maine garage staple, snowblowers range in price from about $800-2400+ and can be purchased at Lowes or Home Depot, as well as smaller hardware stores like Ace. A two-stage self-propelled 24" Toro is suitable for clearing our area's snowfall (and making fun mazes in the yard for kids and dogs. Go in a circle to create a pile for a snow fort!). 

The snow usually starts to fly in December and tapers off in March (tho it is not uncommon to have accumulation in April). According to visitmaine.com, the average annual snowfall in Maine is 50-70" along the coast and 60-110" inland. We mostly see storms of 4-8" with some biggies of 8-12"+ peppered throughout the season. Schools in this area have about 5 snow days (cancelled school) and a handful of two-hour delays to the start of the school day after a storm. 

If, like my buyers above, you are new to Maine's winter scene my best advice is to dress in layers and invest in some boots with great traction from LL Bean (also having a pair of YakTrax is ideal for traversing ice). The winter is beautiful and also cold. If you're bundled correctly, it's much more enjoyable to get out there and have fun!