Are There Hours Where Using Snow Blowers In Missouri Is Illegal?

It's getting to be that time of year here in Missouri where we're going to start seeing some snow. So are there hours where using your snow blower in Missouri could get you a ticket for making too much noise?

What I found when I started looking at municipal codes and even Missouri State Law is that there are generally no specific laws that govern the use of snowblowers. That said, there are various noise ordinances, and yes if you fire the snow blower up in the middle of the night, you could find yourself in violation of a local noise ordinance.

In Missouri, you can be busted for disturbing the peace if you unreasonably and knowingly disturb or alarm another person through the use of a loud noise. There aren't any specific quiet hours or state law regulations governing when you can use a snow blower, a leaf blower, a lawn mower, or any other noisy machine. However, yeah, if you're out there using your snow blower at 2:00 AM and a neighbor complains, you could find yourself on the hook for disturbing the peace. In Missouri, that's a class B misdemeanor upon your first conviction.

That, however, doesn't mean municipalities don't have more specific noise nuisance laws. For example, Kansas City, Missouri prohibits the use of domestic power tools between 10:00 PM - 7:00 AM CST on a residential property or within 250 feet of a residential property. Snowblowers, in my mind, would fall into this category. The City of St. Louis has a similar ordinance to Kansas City's, although they allow the use of domestic power tools from 7:00 AM CST till sunset.

I couldn't find anything in the Sedalia Municipal Code outside of a prohibition of "Unreasonably loud, disturbing, excessive or unnecessary noise." The municipal codes of Warrensburg and Knob Noster are also rather vague when talking about noise ordinances. Columbia doesn't expressly talk about how snowblowers and lawnmowers could disturb the peace, but generally, they tend to frown on excessive noise between 7:00 PM - 7:00 AM CST Monday-Friday, and 9:00 AM -5:00 PM CST on Saturdays.

The bottom line is that there isn't any Missouri statute that prohibits the use of a snow blower at any time, and outside of Kansas City and St. Louis, noise ordinances are rather vague. My advice, be a good neighbor.

If you're snow blowing at 7:00 AM before you go to work, you're probably fine. You're probably fine after work as well, until the late news comes on TV. Besides, if you use your snow blower to clear your neighbor's walk or driveway too, they probably won't care about the noise whenever you choose to do it. I know I wouldn't.