Weight of Snow when Shoveling

The Weight of Snow on when Shoveling calculator computes the weight of snow on a driveway or sidewalk dimensions and the type and depth of snow.

INSTRUCTIONS: Choose your preferred units and enter the following:

• (l) The length of your driveway or sidewalk
• (w) The width of your driveway or sidewalk
• (sd) The depth of the snow on your driveway or sidewalk.
• (st)  The type of snow (see below).  The default is new snow.

Weight of Snow: The calculator returns the weight in pounds.  However, this can be automatically converted to other weight and mass units (e.g. kilograms or tons) via the pull-down menu.

General Information

Snow weighs a lot and many people do not realized the weight they are lifting when shoveling snow.  While shoveling snow can be dangerous to your heart or back if you're unhealthy, it is quite a workout if you are healthy.  This calculator will help you ascertain how much weight you've lifted with your snow shovel. 

Related Calculators:

• To compute the Volume of Water in an Area of Snow, CLICK HERE.
• To compute the Weight/Mass of Snow on an Area, CLICK HERE. 
• To compute the Weight of Snow on a Rectangular Area, CLICK HERE.
• To compute the Weight of Snow on a Polygon Shaped Area, CLICK HERE.

The Math

The dimensions of your driveway or sidewalk are used to compute the surface area of a rectangle. The depth of the snow combines with the surface area to compute the volume of snow.  With that, and the type of snow, one can reasonably estimate the weight of snow on one's driveway or sidewalk.

Ignoring minute traces of other substances, snow is frozen water.  This equation uses a median value for the Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) based on the type of snow or ice selected: