Snow Plowing Update: February 19, 2026

Bottom Line

Be ready for a slow, snowy, and slippery Friday morning commute.  Streets Division plows will be on the salt routes in response to the snowstorm arriving tonight.

What's the weather doing?

Sometime between midnight and the Friday morning rush, tonight’s rain will switch to snow. 

Snowfall is expected to last into late morning or early afternoon. 

The amount of snow we will see on the roads will likely differ from what we see on grassy areas. 

Since it has been so warm lately, there should be a fair amount of melting on the streets. Grassy surfaces, by contrast, should see a bit more snow.

What's the Streets Division doing in response?

Once the snow gets underway, the Streets Division will dispatch plows to the salt routes.

Salt routes are the roughly 800 miles of traffic lanes that make up the main thoroughfares of the City of Madison. These are the streets used by Madison Metro for their bus routes, and also the ones near hospitals, public schools, emergency services, and other critical segments of our road network. 

Crews will be plowing and applying salt as necessary to these roads.

What to expect on the roads

The morning commute may very well be snowy, slippery, and slow. Make good choices and prepare for this possibility. Give yourself extra travel time to arrive at your destinations on time and safely.

When fresh snow falls on melting snow, it can create very slick conditions, especially if the snow increases in intensity and begins to stack up while also melting from underneath. 

This combination can make for a kind of slushy environment on the roads. 

Remember to be patient and slow. Anticipate your stops and turns so you do not slide. Do not follow each other too closely. 

With temperatures hovering in the low 30s for most of the day, and continued warmer pavement temps, you may encounter these wet, slushy roads throughout the day, especially in the low speed, low traffic residential areas that are not part of the salt route network. 

Monitoring conditions

Streets Division staff will be monitoring the roads and the weather. Operations will adjust as conditions require.