City of Naperville Ready for Snow, If It Ever Arrives

The weather gods have smiled on Naperville and so far snow has been very minimal. Whether the weather remains as mild is to be seen and the city of Naperville isn’t taking this mild weather for granted. 

Officials at the city know that the winter is still early and anything can happen. Years where it snows a lot in December are sometimes followed with a New Year with little snow. In other years a dry December leads to a snowy New Year.

At this time last year we already had 15 inches of snow compared with this winter’s 1.46 inches, said the city of Naperville’s Department of Public Works Administrative Analyst Erik Hallgren.

Over the course of the last four years the city has averaged 53.48 inches of snow and around 40 plowing/de-icing events, he said.

So far, the has spent about $187,000 on winter operations, whereas last year the city spent about $820,000, Hallgren said. 

The lack of snow also means that residents haven't needed to use the city’s new interactive map, which will provide regular updates on snow removal. Whenever there is snowfall, updates on snow removal will also be available on the city’s website.

When the snow does come, if the area gets any, the city does have salt at the ready. The city has used approximately 900 tons of salt compared to last year when it used 6,000 tons of salt, Hallgren said. The salt has been used this winter for de-icing, whereas last year it was needed to deal with all of the snow the city received.

The upcoming weather forecast has the area remaining dry until Wednesday night, when there is a 30 percent chance of snow, according to the National Weather Service. Snow showers are also possible on Thursday.