Executive Summary:
Most storm doors are for wind and rain not snow.
1/8" tempered glass is not enough for snow according to everyone I talked to. The Home Depot door guy spent 20 minutes trying to get someone at Anderson to see how thick the glass is on their high end storm doors (4000 series) after multiple transfers they came back with 1/2". That sounds like bullet proof glas that Trump might have on his place in NJ. :-)
It's probably the total for a dual pane insulated window. I spent an hour googling around for snow tolerant storm doors with no luck. Dennis said the only thing was a solid door that would not provide ventelation.

Larson Platinum Secure Glass has a KeepSafe® laminated glass which withstands blows from a baseball bat, so would probably hold back snow, But the glass is not removable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjVNYuUWP6U&ab_channel=TkoProductionsMedia

The only thing I found that provided ventulation and snow resistance was security doors like the ones Sean and Tom found. They would not cave in under snow load, but we'd have to have a way to drain water from the snow that got thru the screen and melted, because of the house heat.

Security doors have one of 3 porous panels along with bars in different decorative patterns. Porus Coverings:

  1. Perforated metal (steel, stainless, aluminum) sheets punched
  2. Expanded metal sheets
  3. Woven wire mesh (heavy duty) The Larson Dominatorª is 0.19 mm stainless steel that withstands more than 1,000 lbs/in of force
    Wire thickness 0.19 mm

  4. welded wire mesh
See below for examples.

It would still be a gamble in a big dump where the snow between the 2 doors would have time to build up before melting.

I couldn't find any with replaceable solid plates.

One model I found would allow us to easily attach some 3/8" plywood inside the frame covering the porous metal. It had bars in the middle, so we cover the bottom half first and cover the rest later after we got 4 ft of snow.

Other features;

  • Hidden closure
  • Closure with foot lock/release
  • Easy install for do-it-yourself
  • Larson KeepSafe laminated glass
  • Energy Glass - Low-E glass, dual pane
There would be issues matching the sills, so we'd probably need Dennis to install it. Prices: $200 - $600
Doors:
Security Door Terminology | Anatomy of a Security Door | Iron Entry Doors Explanation Larson Storm Doors
Larson Security Doors

Larson Platinum Dominator Secure Glass

Larson Platinum Dominator Secure Screen


Gatehouse Pasadena at Lowes
Grizzly woven stainless steel screen is our strongest screen impervious to knives and baseball bat
Powder coat paint with a hammered texture delivers a beautiful and durable finish
Heavy-duty steel construction acts as a barrier to intruders
45 reviews 4.1
80% of Customers Recommend this Product
The stainless steel screen features a 16-gauge wire diameter and 1/8-in square weave pattern that provides the toughest barrier between you and unwanted guests.
Some complaints of rust.
Warning label hidden behind closure

last updated 5 Oct 2021