@skylarportland This video was shot just North of Des Moines in December of 2009. WIth nothing to block the wind, we get some pretty good blizzards. January is usually when it's the worst around here.
@gene5335 Yep, that's understandable. Where I grew up, we had mountains literally surrounding the town, but we were at 6200 ft elevation too. What's strange is we didn't get a LOT of snow--maybe 25-30 in per year, but just the wind--O M G! There is always a wind chill there, and its funny in this short vid you just happened to catch a snow plow going down the road--most other places seeing a snow plow would be like seeing a UFO LOL. What does IA use to clear icy roads--salt, dirt, etc?
@skylarportland Iowa typically pretreats with brine before an ice/snow storm, and then uses granular salt with sand if it's above 17°F (a guess). Below 17°F, I think they just use sand, but I'm not sure. Theoretically, for every mole of solute dissolved in a kilogram of water, the freezing point goes down by roughly 1.8°C. So 17°F doesn't sound too stupid of a guess. It may be higher like 21°F... but I don't know.
@gene5335 Hmm, don't know why comments keep double-posting on here?
Anyway, yeah, WY just used dirt--same here in OR. WA state just started using salt last winter when residents complained too much. One video I seen on here, the poster of the vid was complaining that IDOT didn't plow the gravel road getting out to their house well enough and I responded "you kidding me?!? They *actually* plow a gravel road in Iowa??
Your theory on the solute does make sense though as temp drops.
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skylarportland 1 year ago
@skylarportland This video was shot just North of Des Moines in December of 2009. WIth nothing to block the wind, we get some pretty good blizzards. January is usually when it's the worst around here.
gene5335 1 year ago
@gene5335 Yep, that's understandable. Where I grew up, we had mountains literally surrounding the town, but we were at 6200 ft elevation too. What's strange is we didn't get a LOT of snow--maybe 25-30 in per year, but just the wind--O M G! There is always a wind chill there, and its funny in this short vid you just happened to catch a snow plow going down the road--most other places seeing a snow plow would be like seeing a UFO LOL. What does IA use to clear icy roads--salt, dirt, etc?
skylarportland 1 year ago
@skylarportland Iowa typically pretreats with brine before an ice/snow storm, and then uses granular salt with sand if it's above 17°F (a guess). Below 17°F, I think they just use sand, but I'm not sure. Theoretically, for every mole of solute dissolved in a kilogram of water, the freezing point goes down by roughly 1.8°C. So 17°F doesn't sound too stupid of a guess. It may be higher like 21°F... but I don't know.
gene5335 1 year ago
@gene5335 Hmm, don't know why comments keep double-posting on here?
Anyway, yeah, WY just used dirt--same here in OR. WA state just started using salt last winter when residents complained too much. One video I seen on here, the poster of the vid was complaining that IDOT didn't plow the gravel road getting out to their house well enough and I responded "you kidding me?!? They *actually* plow a gravel road in Iowa??
Your theory on the solute does make sense though as temp drops.
skylarportland 1 year ago