Does All This Snow Mean MnDOT Is Using A Lot of Salt Too?

Rochester set a record over the weekend for the most snow ever in February, so does all this snow mean they're going through a ton of salt on our roads too?

I've lost track of just how many snowstorms we've had in February-- and we're only three weeks into the month! So with all this snow, and all the times we've had to call out the snowplows to clear our roads and highways, they've probably used a lot of salt to keep things clear, right?

Actually, not really. Mary McGuire is a reporter for WCCO-TV in Minneapolis (I was lucky enough to have worked with her a few years ago when she was here in Rochester at Fox-47), and she just did a story about how much salt MnDOT has used so far this winter.

And, despite our record-setting, snowy February, MnDOT says its salt supplies are in good shape. MnDOT has 286,000 tons of salt under contract right now. They’ve used less than 100,000 tons so far this year, Mary noted in the story.

The story went onto say that while road salt can melt ice away, it can't do all that much when it comes to the sheer volume of snow we've faced this month. That requires a dedicated team of snowplow operators working 12-hour shifts to make sure all that snow cleared off our roads and highway across Minnesota.

Listen to Curt St. John from 6 to 10 a.m. on Quick Country 96.5
and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 103.9 The Doc