It might seem early to talk about snow when most of us are still in the thick of the mowing season. But getting prepared now is how you succeed later. This week I want to share one of the tools our snow and ice team relies on to stay ahead of every storm: our weather stations. We have six of them spread across the Dayton-Cincinnati area. In addition to the enhanced forecasts we get, these live readings help us to make the right decisions before, during, and after storms.
When we know a storm is coming, we start watching the weather station a full 72 hours out. Our enhanced weather forecast gives us an idea of what's coming our way and along with air and surface temperatures from the stations we can start forming our dispatch plan.
As the storm gets closer, we dig into details like how intense it will be, whether we're looking at a mix of freezing rain and snow, which crews we might call in early for pretreatment, and whether refreezing is likely once things settle. Those details change how we staff and how we plan, and knowing them in advance keeps us from scrambling.
Those six stations report in real time. With their help, we can watch a storm develop site by site and adjust on the fly. These give us the power to see exactly what's happening at each location and make immediate calls based on the data instead of a forecast from hours earlier.
It's a huge time saver to be able to quickly check on the actual conditions on properties across our service area remotely, and allows our managers to check in on properties from the office while they're organizing crews across town.
You don't need six weather stations to put this kind of planning to work. The more accurate your information, and the earlier you have it, the better every decision downstream becomes. Whether it's snow, a big install, or a busy maintenance week, efficiency starts with knowing what you're walking into before you get there.
If winter services are part of your business, take some time this offseason to look at how you gather your weather information and how early you start planning around it. A little more lead time can save you a lot of overtime.
We're proud to be a sponsor of Snowfighters Institute's first annual GROW! Snow on September 22-23, 2026, in Dayton, Ohio. Bring your team, and you'll learn from industry leaders how to improve your snow business, plus take a tour of Grunder Landscaping Co. to see how we run our snow operations.
Hope to see you there!
Founder & CEO
The Grow Group & Grunder Landscaping Co.