When to Book Snow Removal for Winter in Minnesota (and What Happens If You Wait)

Book your seasonal snow contract in September or early October. Not because of a sale, and not because of a made-up deadline — because each truck's route is capped at a fixed number of stops, and those seats get filled before the first plowable snow.

I get the same call every year, usually the morning after the first real snow. Somebody wants a plow guy today. By then the answer is almost always some version of "I can get you on, but not first." That is not a sales tactic. It is just what a route is.

So here is the honest version of the timing question, including the parts that don't help me sell anything. If you already know you want a spot and you just want the local details, our page on snow removal in Shakopee, MN covers what we do here specifically.

When should you book snow removal for winter?

September through early October, before the first snow of any kind. Routes fill in that window, and once a truck's route is full in a neighborhood, we stop taking that neighborhood.

People assume there is a date on a calendar somewhere. There isn't. The cutoff is a count, not a day. When a truck's stops are full, that route closes — whether that happens the last week of September or the second week of November depends entirely on how fast the signups come in that year. That is why I can't give you "sign by the 15th" and mean it. What I can tell you is that the risk of being too late only goes up, never down, and it goes up fastest the week the forecast first mentions snow.

What does "the route is full" actually mean?

It means a truck has as many stops as it can physically clear inside the window we promise, and adding one more would break that promise for everybody already on it.

The whole job is drive time. We build routes deliberately tight — properties grouped close together, so the truck spends its night pushing snow instead of driving between towns. A route with stops scattered across four cities spends most of the night driving; the same number of stops packed into a few adjacent neighborhoods spends it clearing. The difference is all windshield time between driveways. That is why we cap each route, and why the answer to "can you just add one more?" is sometimes no even when the truck is only a few blocks away.

It also means the cap is per area, not per company. A route can be closed in one neighborhood while there is still room a few miles away. If you call and I say we're full, ask anyway what block you're on — the answer genuinely varies street by street.

When does it actually start snowing here?

The median date of the first one-inch snowfall in the Twin Cities is November 15, based on the Minnesota DNR's record from 1884 through 2023.

That median is the number people plan around, and it is the number that gets them in trouble, because the spread on either side of it is enormous. From the same DNR page:

• Earliest first one-inch snowfall on record: September 26, 1942
• Latest first one-inch snowfall on record: January 21, 2005
• Separately, for snow that stays on the ground: the median date of the first one inch of snow depth is November 18 (1903–2023), earliest October 12, 2009

Read that top line again. There is a year on the books where an inch fell in September. If you are waiting for snow to tell you it's time to call, the snow does not owe you any warning.

The other number worth knowing is how often it snows enough to matter. DNR's event counts for 1891–2025 show the Twin Cities averaging 7.6 days per season with 2.0 inches or more of snowfall — median 7. The range across those seasons runs from as many as 16 such days to as few as 1.

Two inches is our trigger, so that table is close to a picture of our own season. It also explains why route seats are worth guarding: on that DNR average, a winter's snow work lands on roughly seven or eight nights, and every one of those nights has to work for every customer on the list.

What happens if you wait until it snows?

You go behind the seasonal customers in the service order, and you go on as a per-event customer if there is room at all.

The order is not a favor system and it is not about who called nicest. Seasonal customers are routed before per-event ones, every storm, because they bought the route seat and the per-event caller bought a single visit. A truck runs its route in geographic order, and per-event stops get worked in where they fit — which on a heavy night means after.

Concretely: two houses on the same street, one seasonal and one per-event, do not get cleared at the same time on a big storm. The seasonal one is on the route. The other one is an insert. On a light storm you may never notice the difference. On the storm where it matters, you will.

Is it ever too late to get a snow contract?

No — but late means per-event, later in the order, and only in areas where a route still has room.

If you're reading this in December, call anyway. I'd rather tell you no on the phone than have you find out at 6 a.m. Our number is answered 24/7 and I will give you a straight answer about whether your street is open. What I won't do is take your money for a seasonal contract on a full route and then quietly serve you last. Getting sold a seat that doesn't exist is the experience that leaves people bitter about plow companies, and it is the one thing I won't do to you.

Does booking late cost more?

Late signups generally end up on per-event pricing rather than the seasonal rate, and per-event math is worse for you in a snowy winter. The seasonal tiers, what each one includes, and the per-event side are all laid out on our snow pricing page.

Corner lots, long or steep driveways, tough access and heavy hand work get quoted on site, because guessing at those over the phone is how a contractor ends up resenting a customer in February.

What are you actually buying with a seasonal contract?

A route seat with an automatic trigger, a defined scope, and a clearing window measured from when the snow stops.

• Trigger: 2 inches on the ground puts your property on the route automatically. You never have to call. Under 2 inches, de-icing is a judgement call we make.
• Scope every visit: driveway, walks and steps, and we keep the mailbox approach clear. De-icing standing or on request.
• Window: your driveway is cleared within 12 to 24 hours after the snow stops falling.

That last one is the part I'd rather not put in writing, and I put it in writing anyway. We do not promise you a specific hour. A promise of 6 a.m. on every storm is a promise a full route cannot keep once we get a foot of snow. A 12-to-24-hour window from storm end is what a real route can hold, so that's what we say. If you need a guaranteed clock time — a medical situation, a commercial lot with a shift change — tell me that up front and we'll talk about whether we're the right fit, because sometimes we're not. The full snow service scope and standards are written out on our service page.

Worth knowing if you're in Shakopee: City Code 90.04 makes property owners responsible for clearing snow and ice on sidewalks adjacent to residential properties within 36 hours, and commercial within 24. That clock is yours, not the city's, and it's a big part of why the sidewalk tier exists.

What if the winter is a dud?

Then we send money back. If the season's total snowfall comes in under 20 inches, we refund $15 for every inch under 20, based on official local snowfall reporting.

It cuts the other way too: over 70 inches, we charge $15 per inch above 70. So we treat 20 to 70 inches as the normal band and both of us carry the risk outside it. For context, DNR puts the 1991–2020 annual snowfall normal for the Twin Cities at 51.2 inches, against a 120-year long-term average of 46.7 inches — comfortably inside that band, which is the point.

I'd rather explain that clause than hide it. A flat seasonal price with no adjustment means one of us gets robbed every year and it's usually not the contractor.

The short version

Sign in September or early October if you want a seasonal seat, because the seats are counted and they run out before the snow comes. Sign in November and you're probably looking at per-event service behind the seasonal list. Sign in January and you're hoping a route near you still has room.

If you want to know whether your street is open this year, tell us where you are and we'll check the route. If it's full, I'll say so.

Written by Kevin Krenik, owner-operator of Heads Up Outdoor Services, based in Shakopee, Minnesota.

Snowfall figures from the Minnesota DNR State Climatology Office: first one-inch snowfall dates and snowfall event counts, which is also the source of the 51.2-inch normal and 46.7-inch long-term average. Shakopee sidewalk rule from the City of Shakopee, City Code 90.04.