‘Oh, For Sleet’s Sake’: MnDOT names winners of its Name a Snowplow contest

And the winner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s 2026 Name a Snowplow contest is ... the envelope please.

“Oh, For Sleet’s Sake.”

In a close vote, the moniker came out on top in the annual competition where people choose names to be applied to the agency’s snowplows.

“I like that one,” said MnDOT spokeswoman Anne Meyer.

Coming in second, just 29 votes behind, was “Flurrious George,” followed by “Sled Zeppelin,” “K Pop Blizzard Hunter” and “Minne-Snow-Ta.” Rounding out the top eight were “Every Day I’m Shovelin’,” “O Brother, Where Art Plow?” and “The Life of a Snowgirl.”

In December, the agency asked for suggestions and received more than 67,000 submissions. Over the next month, MnDOT staff winnowed that list down to 30 finalists and put them out for a vote.

Nearly 19,000 people cast votes in the online contest. Each person was limited to one ballot, but was allowed to select up to eight names. The top eight vote-getters earned a spot on a plow, with one name assigned to a plow in each of MnDOT’s eight districts.

The agency started the naming contest as a way to bring levity to winter after seeing an article in the publication Roadshow explaining how Scotland names its entire snowplow fleet and posts maps showing their locations. Scotland calls the vehicles “gritters,” the article said, which led to such witty handles as “Gritney Spears” and “Gritty Gritty Bang Bang.”

But there is a more serious message that accompanies the contest:.

“Please slow down and give the operators of ‘Sled Zepplin’, ‘The Life of a Snowgirl’ and all of Minnesota’s other snowplows plenty of space to clear roads safely every time it snows,” Daubenberger said.