Portland Snowfall Totals & Accumulation Averages

How Often it Snows in Portland

The next two tables list monthly and yearly totals for amount of snow and how many days it snows at least 0.1 inches (0.25 centimetres).

10-year snowfall averages at Portland, Maine, 2010 to 2019

Days		Inches	Centi­metres
4.0	January	19.1	48.5
5.3	February	24.1	61.1
2.0	March	10.9	27.8
0.8	April	2.6	6.7
0.2	October	0.5	1.3
0.8	November	3.2	8.0
3.6	December	15.0	38.0
16.7	Year	75.4	191.5

30-year snowfall averages at Portland, Maine, 1991 to 2020

Days		Inches	Centi­metres
7.6	January	18.6	47.2
7.0	February	16.6	42.2
5.1	March	13.6	34.5
1.3	April	2.8	7.1
0.1	October	0.2	0.5
1.5	November	2.3	5.8
6.0	December	14.6	37.1
28.6	Year	68.7	174.5

These averages don't show how much the snowfall in Portland varies from year to year.

In December, for instance, one in four years totals over 22.6 inches of snow. Another 25 percent of years receive five inches or less for the month.

Similarly in January, fresh snowfall in the heaviest years amounts to over 19.1 inches, while the lightest years get less than 13.5 inches.

New snow for February ranges from over 22 inches in heavy snowfall years to under 7.9 inches in light years.

When Portland Has Its First & Last Snowfalls

The first snowfall of winter for Portland usually arrives in November. Less commonly, snow lands as early as October or holds off until December.

The season's last snowfall typically happens in April. Every few years April has no snow, which moves the last snowfall to March.

Portland is normally free of snow every year from May to September.

How Many Snowstorms Portland Gets

Less than half the days of snowfall in Portland leave just a skiff, amounting to less than an inch, of fresh snow on the ground. For 16 days a year on average, the amount of new snow totals at least an inch.

Snowstorms of over five inches a day normally occur five times a year. But major blizzards that dump ten inches or more in one day don't happen each year.

Number of days per month and year on average in Portland with a total snowfall of at least 1, 3, 5 or 10 inches

1 inch 2.5 cm	3 inches 7.6 cm		5 inches 12.7 cm	10 inches 25.4 cm
4.5	2.2	January	1.3	0.2
4.3	1.9	February	1.3	0.2
2.8	1.6	March	1.0	0.3
0.7	0.4	April	0.2	0.0
0.1	0.0	October	0.0	0.0
0.7	0.2	November	0.2	0.0
3.3	1.8	December	1.0	0.2
16.4	8.1	Year	5.0	0.9

How Much Snow Normally Accumulates in Portland

Over half of winter days in Portland have at least an inch of snow on the ground.

Typically for 20 days a year the snow covering Portland gets to ten or more inches deep. On three or four of those days, the snowpack builds up to over twenty inches.

Average total days per month and year in Portland with snow depth of at least 1, 3, 5 or 10 inches on the ground

1 inch 2.5 cm	3 inches 7.6 cm		5 inches 12.7 cm	10 inches 25.4 cm
23.3	18.0	January	13.2	6.1
20.8	16.9	February	13.6	7.2
15.9	13.4	March	11.1	5.4
1.8	1.0	April	0.4	0.0
0.1	0.0	October	0.0	0.0
1.7	1.0	November	0.6	0.0
10.6	7.2	December	4.8	1.4
74.2	57.5	Year	43.7	20.1