Winter Driving; lower temperatures are better. Why?

The lower temperature the better traction you have. I can't find it now but have seen chart traction vs temperature. With temperature below 0 traction on icy road is same as wet asphalt.

 

When it’s really cold the snow won’t melt on roads making it slippery. It just blows across the roads

 

Well, having driven in Quebec during some of the coldest winters imaginable, I can tell you that at -20° and colder (cold enough that snow 'squeaks' when you walk on it..), traction on snow does improve. Not to the level of bare pavement, and if it gets compacted it will become a rutted, icy mess. But even then, ice isn't really much of a problem until it gets a sheen of melting on the surface. Short of driving into a snowbank, it's actually hard to get stuck when it's -40°; even the mud is frozen solid!

 

The thing that makes snow and ice so slippery is the thin layer of water on top that you get as it’s melting because the pavement (or the ground beneath it) isn’t frozen hard, or because the sun is heating it up just enough.

 

The colder the snow the dryer it is. Light dry snow presents little problem for traction, it's the blowing that stinks.

Heavy wet snow is not good for traction. It's like ice.

 

Below around 20 degrees or so the road spray stops sticking to your windshield.

 

Snow in colder temperatures is more abrasive than at warmer temperatures. The ice crystals(snow) form a more ridigid structure. Thus squeaky Snow. Which is great for traction. Point is when you stop on snow roll back & forth and cool your tires down before parking. Otherwise you'll melt the snow under the tires. Then you're stuck. Follow me for more Winter driving tips.

 

When I was OTR I prefered to drive at night... Especially during the winter. Being much colder at nightbwas one of the reasons, as you get better traction when everything is frozen solid with no thin film of melted water on top of the ice.

 

Driving in the winter is most cherished because when the hot coffee becomes too much for your heart, you can switch to hot coco to soften your heart.