Northeast Faces Winter's First Major Snowstorm

[Mateo]

If someone said that it needed to be below 20F for salt to work, he or she isn't that much of an expert! Salt lowers the freezing point of water, and thus is most effective as close to 32F as possible. Salt loses all of its efficacy once it gets below 18F, or so, which is why most cold weather cities (Montreal is the one that I have experience with) spread mostly gravel for traction, since there's nothing short of some very serious (and very expensive) chemicals that will melt snow at that point.

Here in DC, the main roads are all plowed, and bone dry. None of the side streets were plowed in time, and now resemble the texture and appearance of the surface of the moon, except it's made of ice! Any snow that was left untouched is now frozen completely solid, and you can walk on it like it was slippery cement.

[USAF Pilot 07]

It's not salt they were talking about... It's that liquid chemical solution they use.

Salt is terrible for cars because it eats away at them. Since most people don't wash their cars often, and especially don't wash their undercarriages, the salt will just eat away at stuff until something eventually washes it off.

Colorado doesn't use salt on roads for this reason. They use that chemical solution as well as sand. The only problem is that the chemical solution doesn't work nearly as well as salt does, and in larger snowstorms the chemical solution doesn't do much at all...

[cancidas]

i've got an idea. why doens't the city just declare a snow day every time snow is on the ground. that way, no more bitching that streets aren't plowed in time, no more salt getting dumped to corrode away at our streets and cars and all the school kids will be happy!

[Mateo]

The Newsday article referenced a liquid solution of Sodium Chloride, i.e., salt.

Out West, where it's often too cold for salt, I believe the chemical of choice is Calcium Magneisum Acetate, which is very effective at all temperatures, but also very expensive.

[USAF Pilot 07]

I believe the chemical of choice is Calcium Magneisum Acetate, which is very effective at all temperatures, but also very expensive.

And which also sucks in comparison to salt...