We've Had Cold Weather, But Where's The Snow?

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- If you're going by typical, January weather, it was warm on Monday. Fourteen degrees above average to be exact. Perfect for jogging, dog-walking and jigging for walleyes. Even if the ones you catch aren't much bigger than the bait you're using.

"I was out here three days ago and it was like negative, I think we got down to negative 10 or something like that. For me to come out right now and have it be almost 30 is pretty awesome," said fisherman Will Effertz.

Above average temperatures, but below average snowfall.

"Just the other day one of the guys was saying, 'Jeez, give us some snow. I'm tired of not having anything to plow,'" said Mike Kennedy, City of Minneapolis.

The city has had the plows out 13 times this season.

But in almost every case the snow was barely measurable.

That also means the salt the city has to buy as part of a contract sits unused on the sidelines.

"We are required to purchase 80 percent of what we order. So we had to take and put a lot of it on the ground here. We had to actually buy it that we didn't use," said Kennedy.

It'll sit there until snow and ice make a return. In the meantime, city crews have been helping with frozen water pipes, clearing alleyways, and even filling a few potholes. There's plenty of winter left, but the money they could save from a winter with below average snowfall could help another city department.

"If we save a lot in snow, someone else may have had a lot of costs. And they can balance that out," said Kennedy.

So far this winter season, the city hasn't had a single snow emergency.

That's when we get a lot of snow, and parking rules come into play so plows can get down city streets.

The average is around three or four a season.