What a difference a year can make, or even a day when it comes to Minnesota’s weather.

Last year by mid-December, the Twin Cities had gotten more than 15 inches of snow. This year, we’ve only had 4½ inches.

While some people are enjoying the mild temperatures, some companies are feeling a financial hit and anxiously awaiting winter weather.

“This is getting to be a little bit too much for us going into Christmas time with no snow,” Michael Bollinger, with Urban Landworks, said.

With little use for snowplowing so far, Urban Landworks says it is fortunate to also do de-icing, bringing in some income during this unusually warm November and December. But it’s still very difficult.

“The biggest challenge is we just have to figure out what we’re going to do and get creative for work,” Bollinger said.

Unfortunately for Bollinger and anyone else awaiting more wintry weather, the forecast isn’t providing much hope, as a warm pattern is expected to remain through the holidays.

“With all the prices going up, fuel, tires, everything to maintain these plow trucks, it’s going to be really hard for the small operations,” Bollinger said.

In the meantime, they hope that light snowfall can become something more.

“Even little, small dustings can really help our industry out,” Bollinger said. “We’ve only had three events on the year for that and we need more.”