Hi, blog readers. It's Maureen.

Well, it finally happened...the snow and the cold, I mean. When I look outside my window, it definitely looks more like an Iowa winter now.

I'm even a snow enthusiast, and I still really enjoyed last week's 60 degree temperatures. This has been the strangest Midwest winter I've ever experienced, that's for sure.

I'm also an NPR enthusiast, and I listened to a story last week that made me wonder about all this unusual winter weather.

If you watched the CRI Weekly News last week, you probably saw Molly Agnes's piece on how the City Streets crews are saving money and getting more work done during this mild winter. Earlier this week, before the snow, I captured some footage of construction crews working hard on Mahaska Health Partnership's expansion project. It seems like a lot of people are benefiting from this not-too-cold, and up until recently, snowless winter.

But back to this NPR story. The reporter talked to people who worked for private snow plow companies---not the city-owned vehicles, but the ones that stores will hire to clear their parking lots---the ones you can even pay to plow your driveway. They need a certain number of inches of snow each year just to make enough money to break even. And even with the inch or so we got earlier this week, they've still got a long way to go.

That started to make me wonder what other businesses this mostly-snowless, mild-weathered winter might be bad for.

What about places that make salt for roads and sidewalks? Or people who manufacture or sell shovels? Or snow tires? Are people turning on the heat at home as often? What does that mean for heating companies?

Next week, I'm going to work on a story that looks at businesses here in town that depend on the snow or the cold. Do you work in one of those businesses? Are you sick of hearing about how "beautiful" the weather has been?

If you have any other ideas of what businesses and industries may be snow and cold dependent, let me know. You can comment on this blog or send me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Feel free to call me at CRI, too. (641) 676-3400.