ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – With mild temperatures in the St. Louis region, you’re probably not thinking about winter weather, but St. Louis County officials are. St. Louis County is getting ready to handle the upcoming winter weather Wednesday with snow plowing training.

County Executive Sam Page and others are hosting a news conference this Wednesday morning that will talk about the snowplow training that is happening for county workers.

St. Louis County’s plow fleet consists of 115 vehicles, from smaller pickup trucks to large tandem dump trucks. The county’s operations team works 12-hour shifts when a snow or ice storm is happening.

Plows roll out from five different county district facilities as the county covers more than 3,100 miles of roads and streets, so proper training is critical to make sure things run smoothly when the real deal happens.

There will be some classroom sessions during Wednesday’s training and will include instructions on proper snow plowing and salting procedures. Operators will also drive their assigned snow routes.

County officials say they still need drivers to help fill spots for their winter operations. To help fill the driver shortages, officials here also recruit staff from other St. Louis County departments to help out during winter weather.

County Executive Page himself is one of those additional recruits who will be completing the snowplow training Wednesday. Page and the other additional recruits will be trained on the smaller trucks, not the larger snowplows.

All of this to try and make sure St. Louis County is as prepared as possible to handle winter weather.