Germantown has two snowplows that should help in wintry weather, but they haven’t quite been able to scrape sleet-caked snow off roads this week.

Frozen precipitation blanketed Shelby County on Saturday and Sunday, making travel treacherous. Germantown bought two snowplows as part of the 2018-19 budget and deployed them for the first time in 2021.

This time the snowplows weren’t quite cutting it, so crews used front-end loaders, said Andy Sanders, assistant city administrator.

He described the precipitation as sheets of layered snow and ice, explaining that fell first followed by snow and then more sleet. The combination solidified into a predicament of frozen sheets on city streets.

The snowplows Germantown has are like blades on the front of pickup trucks. While the suburb’s crews are using them, Sanders said they don’t quite scrape into the frozen layers that are often about 4-6 inches thick.

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“When we first started trying to move the big sheets of snow and ice, it's coming off in such thick layers,” Sanders said. “We don’t have enough weight on those (snowplow) trucks to push it off effectively.”

The city-owned front-end loaders are heavier and have big buckets on the front so they can scrape up the snow a little better. Then the snowplows can push it aside.

“We are trying to use the best of the resources that we have,” Sanders said.

When the suburb first used its plows in 2021, the snow was fluffier, and so the plows were effective. The amount of sleet this time created issues.

The spreaders are putting down salt behind the loaders, but it doesn’t work in extreme cold, usually ineffective until temperatures reach the 20s. Sanders said with the frigid, fluctuating temperatures, the city wants to prudently determine when it puts down salt.