I think I had longer in the 90's winters depending on what we considered pack. One year it snowed day before Thanksgiving and there was some pack until March that year, don't remember the year, Will would know.
And I love snow blowing after dinner when the storms winds down, I put the garage lights and driveway lights on and go to town. Usually it's still light snows when I'm doing it. Looking forward to the next biggie.
I got a great deal on a used one last year, two year old Toro, kicks azz, he even gave me a couple hundred bucks for my old one. Thing looks brand new.
I bought one of the biggest Toro's they had, traded my 8hp in for the bigger one, the old one was about 15 years old. I think the new one is equivalent to a 10hp. I got it used, only two years old. Dying to try it on a 20incher.