One of the first winter storms of the season may have missed the local area this week, but Minnesota Department of Transportation snowplow crews in southern Minnesota are ready to go. The fleet has been checked over, and the plows and sanders are ready to go. Local Mn/DOT Operations Supervisor Thomas Zimmerman says that on a typical year, Mn/DOT uses about 19,000 tons of salt making the roads safe. He reminds motorists that the website www.511mn.org is the best place to go for winter road conditions.