Cleveland Hopkins carries this metro’s anchor normal at 63.8 inches a year. The city’s sidewalk rule is stricter than almost everybody believes, and several local outlets report it wrong.
Cleveland is in the transitional zone, where the snow belt shades into the rest of the metro. Cuyahoga County.
| Season or event | Measured |
|---|---|
| 2019–20 | 36.9″ at Old Brooklyn |
| 2018–19 | 34.6″ at Old Brooklyn |
These are measured seasons and events, not 30-year normals. Outside Cleveland Hopkins, Chardon and Elyria, almost nowhere in this metro has a long-record station, so a published normal for most suburbs does not exist. This site quotes what was actually measured and says which season it came from, rather than inventing an average.
Where the snow belt starts, and why it matters to a quote →Codified Ordinance § 507.13: every owner, occupant or person in charge of a building or lot fronting a street or alley must clear the sidewalk before 9:00 a.m. each day. If full removal is impossible, it has to be covered with ashes, sand or similar so it can be walked on. The city may clear it and bill you — the Director of Public Service can remove it and charge the owner, and an unpaid charge is certified to the County Auditor, where it acts as a lien on the property.
During a declared snow ban, red-and-white “Snow Ban” signs apply and violators are cited and towed.
A deep pre-1930 core. Much of the housing predates 1960 — colonials and bungalows, a great many of them with the garage at the back of the lot, reached by a long narrow driveway running the full length of the property. That driveway is the job here, and it is nothing like a suburban apron.
That matters more here than in most snow markets. Across Cleveland and the inner ring the garage sits at the back of the lot, reached by a long narrow driveway running the full length of the property. Clearing one of those is a different job from clearing a short apron in front of an attached garage — more passes, less room to put the snow, and a fence or a lot line on both sides. When you ask for a quote, the length of the drive and where the snow can legally go are the two things worth saying first.
A correction worth making. Several Northeast Ohio outlets report Cleveland’s sidewalk rule as “24 hours.” The ordinance says before 9 a.m. daily. If you are timing a contractor visit around the news version, you are timing it around the wrong number.
The city’s own operation is published and worth knowing. Plowing begins when accumulation reaches 2 inches and continues until the snow stops, mains and secondaries first and residential streets after. The city runs roughly 3,000 lane miles and says it takes three to four days to plow the entire city. It uses over 22,000 tons of salt and 23,000 gallons of liquid de-icer in a season, pre-treats six to eight hours before temperatures drop below freezing, routes trucks by GPS and publishes a plow tracker on a 15-minute delay. Reports go to 3-1-1.
Three or four days is the number that should shape a residential contract in the city. It means that on a large storm your street is not the constraint your contractor is working against — your driveway is, and it will very likely be cleared well before the street is.
The address, the length of the driveway, whether the garage is attached or at the back of the lot, and what else has to be cleared. Four facts and the quote stops being a range.
Call (216) 677-6862 Get a Season Price
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