Winter Maintenance Report
2025-26 at a glance
This section shows the two-year comparison of several key areas, including weather, materials used, cost and labor. The winter of 2025-26 was below average in most categories.
Two-year comparison
| Category | Measure | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure | Lane miles | 30,304 miles | 30,343 miles |
| Weather | Snowfall, near MSP Airport (Based on MnDOT Maintenance Decision Support System) |
28.2 inches | 55.3 inches |
| Weather | Snowfall, statewide across districts (Based on MnDOT Maintenance Decision Support System) |
36.4 inches | 51.8 inches |
| Weather | Number of winter events, statewide average | 16.4 events | 19.8 events |
| Materials | Salt used | 141,489 tons | 190,758 tons |
| Materials | Average cost of salt per ton | $98.11 | $102.13 |
| Materials | Salt brine used | 12.3 million gallons | 16.1 million gallons |
| Materials | Sand used | 14,923 tons | 23,605 tons |
| Costs and Performance | Total plowing and materials costs (Based on fiscal year) |
$121.6 million | $211.8 million |
| Costs and Performance | Total plowing and materials costs per lane mile, statewide average | $4,012 | $6,980 |
| Costs and Performance | Frequency of achieving bare lane after winter event (70% target) |
89% | 88% |
| Labor and Services | Regular labor hours | 420,774 hours | 520,313 hours |
| Labor and Services (Business Intelligence data) |
Overtime winter labor hours | 94,452 hours | 142,891 hours |
2025-26 average district snowfall
Official weather reporting station snowfall
| Year | Near MSP Airport | Statewide Average |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 55.3 inches | 51.8 inches |
| 2024-25 | 28.2 inches | 36.4 inches |
| 2023-24 | 20.8 inches | 23.5 inches |
| 2022-23 | 92.8 inches | 90.2 inches |
| 2021-22 | 47.3 inches | 63 inches |
MnDOT uses a Winter Severity Index to simplify the comparison from year to year. Each district uses the same factors to calculate a single relative number. Factors include dewpoint, humidity, wind speed & gusts, precipitation type, frost, road & air temperatures, cloud cover, blowing snow and surface pressure.
Winter Severity Index by district for past five years
| District | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District 1 | 177 | 210 | 99 | 110 | 131 |
| District 2 | 167 | 152 | 85 | 93 | 126 |
| District 3 | 130 | 173 | 64 | 82 | 109 |
District 4 |
152 | 166 | 64 | 89 | 112 |
| Metro District | 101 | 157 | 46 | 42 | 87 |
| District 6 | 94 | 142 | 50 | 49 | 107 |
| District 7 | 75 | 121 | 51 | 45 | 94 |
| District 8 | 90 | 139 | 58 | 50 | 97 |
| Statewide | 138 | 164 | 72 | 80 | 114 |
Average salt usage by district for past five years
in thousands of tons
| District | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District 1 | 32.1 | 37.7 | 17 | 21.7 | 28.1 |
| District 2 | 11.6 | 15.1 | 12 | 11.8 | 15.7 |
| District 3 | 29 | 44.8 | 20.3 | 21.1 | 27.2 |
| District 4 | 10.8 | 16.4 | 7.7 | 9.3 | 11.4 |
| Metro District | 61 | 71.3 | 24.5 | 36.3 | 51.7 |
| District 6 | 25.7 | 39.5 | 17.1 | 22.4 | 29.2 |
| District 7 | 9.6 | 19.6 | 8.5 | 11.3 | 16.6 |
| District 8 | 9.8 | 15.9 | 7 | 7.6 | 10.9 |
| Statewide | 189.5 | 260.4 | 114.2 | 141.5 | 190.8 |
Average liquid usage by district for past five years
in thousands of gallons
| District | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District 1 | 1,022.2 | 1,644.5 | 1,545.6 | 1,878.9 | 3,082.3 |
| District 2 | 234.4 | 432.8 | 633.2 | 567.8 | 768.2 |
| District 3 | 1,172.2 | 2,470.7 | 1,621.1 | 1,909 | 2,457.9 |
| District 4 | 1,897.5 | 2,983.8 | 1,661.4 | 1,878.5 | 2,092.9 |
| Metro District | 1,154.6 | 1,997.2 | 1,487.1 | 1,957.8 | 2,547.1 |
| District 6 | 935.1 | 1,752.0 | 1,223.5 | 2,010.9 | 2,608.6 |
| District 7 | 1,263.9 | 1,993.8 | 1,010.6 | 1,323.2 | 1,621.9 |
| District 8 | 417.7 | 869.5 | 573.5 | 760.5 | 940.7 |
| Statewide | 8,097.5 | 14,144.4 | 9,756.1 | 12,286.7 | 16,119.5 |
Average sand usage by district for past five years
in thousands of tons
| District | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District 1 | 12.2 | 16.5 | 4.1 | 6.1 | 7.2 |
| District 2 | 6.9 | 5.9 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.1 |
| District 3 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.6 |
| District 4 | 5.6 | 3.7 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 5.1 |
| Metro District | 1 | 4.5 | 1 | 0.1 | 1.5 |
| District 6 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| District 7 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 3.5 |
| District 8 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
| Statewide | 29.1 | 36.4 | 11.1 | 14.9 | 23.6 |
Snow and ice expenditures on materials, labor and equipment totaled $211.8 million in 2025-26, compared to $121.6 million than the previous winter.
Total spent for snow and ice control compared to winter severity
includes materials, labor and equipment
| Year | Cost | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | $211,800,000 | 114 |
| 2024-25 | $121,600,000 | 80 |
| 2023-24 | $93,000,000 | 72 |
| 2022-23 | $174,000,000 | 164 |
| 2021-22 | $148,000,000 | 138 |
Historical snow and ice expenditures trend
| District | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | Five-year average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District 1 | $20,545,000 | $22,053,000 | $13,890,000 | $17,589,000 | $29,147,000 | $23,005,000 |
| District 2 | $13,252,000 | $13,343,000 | $9,159,000 | $11,142,000 | $18,403,000 | $14,521,000 |
| District 3 | $18,904,000 | $23,380,000 | $12,618,000 | $16,176,000 | $26,968,000 | $21,519,000 |
| District 4 | $16,478,000 | $19,127,000 | $9,993,000 | $12,423,000 | $19,973,000 | $17,221,000 |
| Metro District | $42,120,000 | $44,377,000 | $19,086,000 | $27,821,000 | $53,835,000 | $40,021,000 |
| District 6 | $14,155,000 | $20,198,000 | $11,096,000 | $13,803,000 | $30,075,000 | $19,886,000 |
| District 7 | $10,953,000 | $14,760,000 | $8,487,000 | $13,950,000 | $17,765,000 | $14,606,000 |
| District 8 | $8,575,000 | $13,342,000 | $5,985,000 | $6,714,000 | $13,586,000 | $10,564,000 |
| Other | $2,835,000 | $3,373,000 | $3,489,000 | $1,952,000 | $2,045,000 | $2,741,000 |
| Statewide | $147,816,000 | $173,953,000 | $93,003,000 | $121,571,000 | $211,797,000 | $164,084,000 |
Salt costs - based on fiscal year
Average per ton
| Year | Cost |
|---|---|
| 2025-26 | $102.13 |
| 2024-25 | $98.11 |
| 2023-24 | $94.32 |
| 2022-23 | $86.31 |
| 2021-22 | $77.87 |
MnDOT met its overall performance target for the 2025-26 winter season. MnDOT has met or exceeded the 70% target the past 10 years. MnDOT worked to reduce road salt use on roadways and invested in updates to our systems and technologies. Bare lane regain time is measured from the time a winter event ends to when MnDOT’s snow and ice operations regain bare lane driving conditions. The target for this measure varies by road classification, ranging from 0 to 3 hours for the state’s most heavily traveled roadways to 9 to 36 hours for the least traveled secondary roads.
Frequency of meeting bare lane targets
Cost in millions from Business Intelligence