Abstract: Structures may be subjected to instability when snow drifting on them happens under strong wind, which was studied less. In this paper, the dynamic instability of a single-layer reticulated cylindrical shell under coupled wind and snow loads is studied. The guideline for this study is firstly given. Then, snow drifting in wind fields is simulated by the CFD method and the unsteady aerodynamic forces on the shell are obtained by wind tunnel tests. Finally, the dynamic instability of the single-layer reticulated cylindrical shell under coupled wind and snow loads is analyzed, in which seven load cases are included. The analytical results show that yawed wind and ununiform snow pressure make the single-layer reticulated cylindrical shell be prone to dynamic instability and the application of conclusions drawn from the dynamic instability analysis by the uniform snow pressure in current Chinese Load Code is unsafe.