How Philly's snow drought is saving the state big bucks

State of play: Philly hasn't come close to reaching its average annual snowfall (23.1 inches) in recent years, allowing the state to bank nearly $2 million over the last six winters, per PennDOT data provided to Axios.

• Philly is expected to get between 14-24 inches of snow this winter.
• Meanwhile, state officials project spending about $4.1 million for snow removal in Philadelphia County this season, down from $5.1 million in the 2024-25 season.

The big picture: PennDOT spends about $220 million statewide every year to clear snow from more than 96,000 miles of state-managed roads, highways and bridges — a distance equivalent to traversing the globe four times.

• That agency used more than 2,200 plows and about 14 million gallons of road salt to clear and de-ice roadways last winter.

Caveat: The amount reflects PennDOT's Philly savings between 2019-2025.

• It doesn't account for any local savings from less plowing and treatment; the city's Department of Streets didn't respond to Axios' requests for comment.

Driving the news: The Philly region experienced a trace of snowflakes over the weekend, but it's still waiting for its first big snowstorm of the year.

• And with peak snow season still about a month away, the dry spell continues.

Zoom in: Philadelphians have kept their shovels and snowblowers packed away longer as the city's first measurable snowfall has come later, fueled by global warming that has affected snowfall throughout the U.S. over the last five decades, per Climate Central.

• Philly has matched a record-low 0.3 inches of snow twice over the last six winters, most recently in the 2022-23 season — coinciding with about $800,000 in local snow removal savings for PennDOT that winter.

Flashback: Philadelphia's last snowless winter was in 1972-73.

The bottom line: Snow money, snow problem.