Be prepared

There are many eyes on the weather at Longs Peak Landscape in Longmont, Colo. Supervisors in charge of areas the company serves – from Boulder to Fort Collins, Loveland and Firestone – watch the conditions in their pocket of the region.

“We use Cdot cameras to watch the I-25 corridor and other main roads in Boulder,” says Raymond Tyler, senior operations manager. Colorado Department of Transportation’s “Cdot” live webcams show what’s happening on the streets in real time.

The company also relies on NOAA Weather Radio and uses a company called Skyview, which contacts Longs Peak Landscape with weather reports.

“Our supervisors are trained to watch, and they have their trucks at their areas of the world here they take care of, so they know when the snow will hit,” Tyler says, relating that supervisors then message or call crewmembers to help. “It’s important to have the right people in the right areas.”

This “pod” approach with supervisors keeping track of their areas’ weather conditions works for Longs Peak. Because having people on the ground is the best way to really see what the weather is bringing, says Jeremy Anderson, owner, Anderson Custom Landscapes, Mankato, Minn.

“We have to be active, be outside,” he says, noting that high-touch accounts need snow services whether or not the white stuff is falling from the sky. “It’s not just about is it snowing or not? Sometimes, the wind can be blowing from a certain direction and take snow from roofs and throw it in front of buildings.”

The weather service is not reporting on rooftop drifts that land in a commercial parking lot. Meanwhile, Anderson says his team watches FutureCast reports on their mobiles to keep tabs on new accumulation.

Smith says there’s a schedule at Lakeview Lawn and Landscape where managers check weather on certain days of the week. “It’s not the same guy checking daily, but we have someone checking every area at all times,” he says.

At Dreamscapes, servicing the NOAA weather station as a client has benefits, Benson says. “We’ve been taking care of them for the last 13 years, so there is an occasion where there’s a wicked system they have been watching, they will give us a courtesy call.”

Benson’s team also watches AccuWeather and WeatherBug. Local news media is always on the radar, as well. As for who’s responsible for watching reports, Benson says the weather and construction manager oversees this – but most everyone keeps tabs on reports. “You find yourself drawn to the news and you’re sitting at the edge of your seat watching what’s coming up,” he says.

Weather gets personal in the snow business. “Everyone is planning whether they can go out, should they make dinner, should they get a sitter for the kids because they might be tied up for a few days with snow,” Benson says.