In the middle of another cold and snowy week, knowing that we are just ten days away from the start of meteorological spring might be welcoming news.
Just how much snow did we see this season? It seems like a lot when compared to the last three winters in Indianapolis.
So far this winter (December, January, and the first 18 days of February), Indianapolis has received just over 15 inches of snow.
In a normal winter season, we would expect about 21 inches of snow. In a snow season (the entire year), there is normally about 25.5 inches of snow.
Although we still have a week and a half left of February, we are still below the winter normal level.
Out of 82 years of snow data, this winter ranks 45th most snowy in Indianapolis history, so we are nowhere near setting any records.
When you compare our 15" of snow to the last three years, however, this winter seems more significant.
Indianapolis saw less than 10" of snow for the past three winters.
Crews have felt the impact of more snow, especially compared to work in the last few years.
"We've used about 10,000 tons more this winter weather season than each of the last two years," Kyle Bloyd with Indy DPW explained about salt usage. "We've really put a lot of material down."
This year, Indy DPW has used over 24,000 tons of salt. In both winters 2023/2024 and 2022/2023, around 14,000 tons were used.
The number of hours worked to clear roads also increased this winter. This winter, road crews have clocked over 55,000 hours. This is up from 43,000 hours last winter, and 31,000 hours two years ago.
The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has noticed a similar trend.
I asked Natalie Garrett with INDOT if the extra work this season has been a good thing for some employees.
"I would say yes. It's steady work," Garrett replied. "It's never fun when they're away from their families potentially on holidays or weekends, but they have a job to do. They're serving Hoosiers across Indiana."
So far this winter, INDOT workers statewide have spent 212,000 hours treating roads. They have used 257,000 tons of salt across Indiana.
Just because we are close to the end of meteorological winter doesn't mean the end of snow for good. Typically, we see about 3.5" of snow in Indy through March and April.
