As the seasons transition from summer to fall, the warm weather is still hanging on, with temperatures reaching the 80s on most September days.

But seasoned residents know that in Colorado Springs, winter is often closer than it may appear.

“On the Front Range, you never know when Mother Nature is going to start throwing snow at us,” said Corey Farkas, operations and division manager for Colorado Springs’ Public Works. “That’s why it’s important to be ready.”

On Wednesday, Public Works began winter preparations with its annual Snow School, a two-day series of snow- and ice-control training exercises for the city’s snowplow drivers. For veteran employees, Snow School is refresher training in plow operation and maintenance. For newer hires, it’s “Plow Operations 101,” according to street operations manager Clint Brown.

“For the newbies that have been working the roads and filling potholes all summer long, this helps get them ready for the transition into bad weather,” Brown said.

About 130 drivers were on hand for Wednesday’s training, which included de-icing, equipment maintenance techniques, chaining and unchaining the trucks, removing and attaching plow blades, and driving an obstacle course with a fully outfitted, winter-ready vehicle.

Public works operators drive the same vehicles all year round, so they are familiar with the basic operations of the truck, Farkas said.

“The good thing is, when we don’t have plows on these trucks, they’ve got asphalt in the back and hauling different kinds of materials,” he said. “These guys are in these trucks year-round — just in different operations. So our operators stay sharp.”

But in the winter, the job involves a good deal of multitasking. That’s why even the most experienced driver can benefit from refresher training.

“These guys aren’t just driving. They’re operating a piece of heavy equipment, with a plow on the front, with very limited visibility,” Farkas said.

“So they’re working a plow up and down, left and right, they’re applying materials to the roads, and they’re doing all of this while watching out for traffic.”

Snow School also trains operators in the proper application of snow removal and mitigation materials like sand and de-icer, which is critical in helping the department stay within its $1.3 million annual budget.

“When we get our budget, which is primarily for materials, in January, it’s for the entire year,” Farkas explained. “From that point, snow season will run from January to about April or May.

“We have to be careful that, when we get our new budget in January, that we’re properly utilizing our materials between then and May so that we have some in reserve for October, November and December. That’s part of what we’re training: how to properly manage materials, applying the proper amount of material to meet the level of service and help our dollars go farther.”

Like many employers, Public Works experienced staffing issues during, and in the months immediately following, the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, the snow removal team is close to full staffing levels, officials said.

“To consider ourselves fully staffed, we would probably need another 15 operators or so,” Brown said. “But with 130 drivers, we’re in pretty good shape.”

“We’re not quite full, but we’re close,” Farkas added. “We’ve got the numbers we need to fully staff our snow operations.

“When we go into winter operations, we do 12-hour shifts, so we need enough operators to be able to run as many as 50 trucks during a 12-hour shift. That means we need 100 operators. Allowing for sickness and vacations, you want to have more than just what you need, and we’ve got that right now.”

In Colorado Springs, the first measurable snow often precedes by weeks the official declaration of winter. The earliest snow, according to the National Weather Service, was on Sept. 3, 1961, when the city saw 4.2 inches.

The snow removal team members know it’s never too early to get ready. It’s also not too early, Farkas said, to ask residents to do what they can to make the team’s job easier.

“If you can stay home, we ask that you do,” he said. “The quicker these guys can get to their respective routes and get them clear, the quicker we can get traffic moving in a safe manner.”