We may still be a week away from the first official day of the winter season but normally much of Iowa has seen at least a covering of snow that lasts more than a few hours by this time in December.

While this past weekend’s rain caused temporary flooding issues in parts of Perry, some would argue it’s still better than snow.

The Perry Public Works department would agree, especially when it comes to not having to use their stockpile of sand and salt.

Deputy Public Works Director Josh Wuebker says last winter was the mildest one he can remember and they did not have to use much material to clear the roads due to the lack of snow and ice.

“We did not have to order as much (sand and salt this year), the prices were still low so we did order some.  We try to stockpile that as much as we can, it might come to a year where we don’t have to order material because we could have enough.  But yeah, that does save us on everything, all of our budgets, which is the road use tax, so that’s good.  We’ll see what this winter does.”

Right now, the National Weather Service shows no change of snow in the immediate forecast.