Chittenden County
Snow plowing in
Burlington, Vermont
Snow plowing in Burlington covers tight urban driveways, rental properties, walkways, small business lots, and multifamily access.
Local operating question
What is different about a Burlington stop?
Burlington uses overnight snow bans for public-street clearing, including a distinct downtown window. Private-property plans must account for where vehicles can legally move. Curbside snow, public plow berms, rentals, tight drives, and scarce stacking room make parking coordination more valuable than a wider plow pass. Burlington's overnight snow-ban system for public streets means private-property plans have to work around where residents can legally move a vehicle, not just around the property line: a rental on North Avenue or a small business lot near Colchester Avenue both depend on knowing the current ban schedule before a storm. Tight curb space and frequent pedestrian traffic also make walkway timing as important as the driveway pass itself for a Burlington address.
How snow affects a Burlington lot
Burlington International Airport records 87.5 inches of snow a year, 23.1 days with an inch of new snow and 89 days of snow cover.
US 2, US 7 and VT 127 are the main routes. A driveway on one takes the plow bank on every storm.
Catlins Hill rises to about 367 feet, too low to change the snow. The difference between two Burlington lots is the street, the slope and the room to stack.
The Intervale floodplain lies along the Winooski River. Meltwater on low ground there refreezes on ice days.
What Burlington properties look like
Winooski, across the river, shares its record and is denser still. A Burlington plan is mostly about where the snow goes. Lots near Starr Farm Beach, Bernard J Leddy Park, Redstone Park and Oakledge Park are scoped like any Burlington lot: by where the snow can go.
For a Burlington lot, write down where the snow goes, because storage is the limit. Check the parking-ban zone first, since a ban decides when a lot can be cleared curb to curb. Model the Burlington lot in the snow-service planning range calculator.
| Condition | Near Burlington | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall | 87.5 inches a year (Burlington International Airport) | NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (nearest station) |
| New-snow days | 23.1 a year | Same source |
| Snow-cover days | 89 a year | Same source |
| Ice days | 57 a year | Same source |
| Numbered highways | US 2, US 7 and VT 127 | US Census Bureau TIGER/Line map data |
| Named rivers | Winooski River | USGS National Hydrography Dataset |
| Named places | Starr Farm Beach, Bernard J Leddy Park, Redstone Park and Oakledge Park | USGS Geographic Names Information System |
| Highest summit | Catlins Hill, about 367 feet | USGS GNIS summit names; heights from the USGS 3D Elevation Program |
Parking bans and plowing rules in Burlington
Burlington declares snow bans from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., and the downtown zone runs from midnight to 6 a.m. Surface municipal lots bar overnight parking from 2:30 to 6 a.m. between December 1 and March 15, including during snow bans, and alerts go out through VT-Alert (winter parking).
Snow plowing near Burlington
Planning also covers Essex, Essex Junction, Jericho, Underhill and Hinesburg, and the service-area directory lists every town.
Straight answers
Questions to settle before the snow flies
What should a Burlington plan know about winter parking and plowing?
Snow bans run from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., with the downtown zone from midnight to 6 a.m., and alerts arrive through VT-Alert.