I'm told by some other local owners that mid December is when it starts in our area. We still seem to be in the doldrums of November, September and October were not to bad and then November was terrible. I am just far enough east of Buffalo that we have not had any real snow yet and they just started salting a few days ago.
I'm relatively new to this also, this is my second winter as an owner/operator.
Here's my experience. It's about the change. For us here in the high coal country of Pa, we just got sustained cold after record breaking warmth this fall. Right now, highs in the upper 20s during the day, teens at night. Forecast looks like it'll be like this through next Monday (7 days from now). So after this warm fall, this is a shock to most people. And self serve business is super slow, and the IBA business is ok but not strong. Because this is a big change for most folks.
As soon as we get a break with temps in 40s, that's when the rush happens. If that aligns with a Thursday through Sun then all the better. Because 40s will be the change for the warmer.
We've got a clipper coming in Thursday with some snow same as you great lakes folks, along with the coldest air of the season coming this Friday and Saturday with wind. This isn't going to be great for business this weekend.
Become an armature meteorologist.
That's my $.02