A snowplow is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. Although this term is often used to refer to vehicles mounting such devices, more accurately they are known as winter service vehicles, especially in areas that regularly receive large amounts of snow every year, or in specific environments such as airfields. In other cases, pickup trucks and front end loaders are outfitted with attachments to fulfill this purpose. Some regions that do not frequently see snow may use graders to remove compacted snow and ice off the streets. Snowplows can also be mounted on rail cars or locomotives to clear railway tracks.
TowPlow and trucks on a Missouri rural Interstate
A small sidewalk clearing plow in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Snowplows in Sweden in 1909
Snowplows in Ystad, Sweden in February 2018.
Snow removal or snow clearing is the job of removing snow after a snowfall to make travel easier and safer. This is done both by individual households and by governments, institutions, and commercial businesses.
A sidewalk clearing plow in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Snowblower in Rocky Mountain National Park, 1933
Salt brine sprayed and dried on a road surface for anti-icing before a snow storm
A Japanese road sprinkler system. This system combines the mechanical action of the water to remove the snow and the > zero temperature of the water to melt the snow. This system can only be used where ground temperatures do not regularly drop below zero, otherwise sheet ice formation could result (although a continuous water flow would act as an impediment to this).