The first real storm usually comes up in November, and the sandhills north of Sterling go from tan to white in a single afternoon. Arca Landscape trades summer's rakes for a plow when that happens, running lots and lanes until the last one is clear from curb to curb. Working the ground all year teaches a crew where water pools and where a careless berm will melt into ice by Thursday, so the piles go somewhere they won't come back to bite anyone. There's a particular satisfaction in a lot pushed clean while the light is still low and gold across the drifts. Sterling gets more than its share of wind, and the plan always accounts for where it will put the snow next.