Facts

From Minnesota

According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation Office of Communication there is an average of 42 snowfalls in Minnesota per season. In an average winter Minnesota will receive 58.9 inches of snow.

And when there is snow, there are approximately 1,700 Mn/DOTdrivers and 850 trucks to remove it. The average number of crashes involving snowplows and motor vehicles is 110, of those the average number of people injured is 10.

Besides plowing the snow off the road, Mn/DOT uses an average of 215,279 tons of salt and 213,587 tons of sand per season statewide so the roads are not slippery.

Keeping the roads clean in the winter is an expensive job. Mn/DOT spends about $50 million per season on snow and ice operations statewide, which is about 10 percent of Minnesota’s construction budget.

copyright © 2003 last updated December 2002
Amanda Hubbard, Jen Barr and Hayley Hurd