On Mon, 15 Dec 2003, Kim Brennan wrote:

> Freshly fallen snow (this line should go before the first line of this
> post...) is very easy to drive in. Assuming you have good tread on your
> tires, and your tires are rated for snow. The danger with snow
> (usually) is compaction (getting rid of the air spaces in the snow).
> Compaction has two dangers in it. One, it prevents that dangerous water
> from draining away. Second compaction can lead to ruts that your tires
> travel in... in effect steering your car for you. Regardless of where
> YOU might want to go.

If it gets cold enough, packed snow isn't a big deal.  When I lived "up
north" I found that driving was much easier once the temperature got below
20 degrees F or so.  Snow and ice aren't nearly as slick when melt water
is taken out of the equation.  Packed snow or ice with a bit of sand
spread on it by the Road Commission is easy to drive on and gives good
traction.

Also, once it gets cold enough that the sun no longer raises the asphalt
above freezing, you don't get the melting/thawing cycles that cause glare
ice.  (This is one reason you don't see salt used as much in really cold
climates -- When it's 10 degrees F out, and likely to dip down to -15 at
night, the last thing you want to do is encourage the snow to temporarily
melt!)

David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Volkswagen Diesel Westfalia
'94 Honda Civic Si -- For Sale
'86 Volvo 240DL wagon