Do you have something against Californians Jay?

We are the land of fruits and nuts, but they're just the minority...ask our Governator...

Not at all, Henry. It's just that a lot of Californians -- especially southern Californians -- simply aren't prepared for New England winters.

Then again, I doubt many of us are prepared for earthquakes and huge traffic jams and smog and... well, you get my drift.

It's long been my theory that a long time ago, God picked up the United States by the east coast and shook it. All the loose nuts fell to California.

J.

Oh my gosh! I got a good laugh out of that one.

Road salt, the real stuff, is highly corrosive, but as with many chemical processes the speed of the reaction is temperature sensitive. I have heard that for every 10 degree Fahrenheit rise in temperature, the corrosive effect of salt doubles. You really don't need to worry too much about washing your car during sub-freezing weather unless you park it in a heated garage.

The mistake many make is not doing a really good job of washing their vehicles in spring to remove as much salt as possible from everywhere possible. Salt left in the folds of the underside of the hood and in the bottom of doors get's moistened every time the car is driven through rain and then it's exposed to the heat of the summer sun. May years ago I found out the hard way that, under those conditions, salt can eat completely through the sheet metal in a single summer.

The local self-service car wash has a spot free setting where deionized water is delivered at relatively low pressure. I use that setting after a good regular top to bottom and underneath wash to clean under the hood and spray through the drain holes in the doors. I then spray WD-40, which is water displacing, into those areas. The idea is to wash out as much salt as possible and then keep moisture away from the metal.

Technically, salt has minimal effect on paint, but as cracks develop in stressed areas the water and salt gets to the metal. If you see bubbled-up paint, that means rust is forming under it. At a minimum scrape off the bubbled paint, clean the metal and wax it. Of course the best treatment is to sand, prime and paint, but leaving bubbled-up paint is by far the worst thing you can do in such cases. The paint is actually preserving the corrosive environment under it from drying out and air gets in through microscopic cracks that develop as the paint is stretched by the expansion of steel as it rusts.

I always find it funny to see how those from warmer climates react to winter weather. At my wifes corporate office in Raleigh NC, if there is the threat of snow they send people home!!.

PS For those in the North East, by next tuesday ish you'll be getting a nice cool down. We here in Michigan are supposed to have a high of 6 degrees (-6 for the low....)

Mac Lorry: Good advice, thanks.

Rock salt. I'll remember that next time we get a hard freeze here in New Orleans.

Margarita Salt will work in a pinch. That does leave one with haveing to decide priorities though. Use the salt on the walk, or just sail away to Margaritaville until it melts?

Actually, I used to live in a 2nd floor flat with metal staircase leading down to the garage entrance and I found that kosher salt did a much better job - and caused less damage to the metal stairs - than rock salt. Then I got smart and moved into an apartment where the maintenance people do the snow removal. Cheaper and safer all around.

Don't pin too many roses on those of us who grew up in colder climes. There are a lot of people in Ohio who drive as though they have NEVER seen snow or even rain!

Please explain to those of us here in California this strange salt ritual. (We do have snow here, you know. Lots of it. In 12,000 foot mountains where it belongs. It's pretty.)

Just wait until there is a real old-fashion blizzard. That is where the wind is blowing 20mph and it is snowing, sending the snow flakes into a horizontal mode insteasd of verticle. Then couple that with severe wind chills, the Southern California and the Deep South people will head back to where they came from to stay. When this happens, the high taxes and other things can be eliminated.

Scott in Ca:

Please explain to those of us here in California this strange salt ritual. (We do have snow here, you know. Lots of it. In 12,000 foot mountains where it belongs. It's pretty.)

The salt is used to melt the ice that accumulates on the highways, thus making them into skating rinks. Salt is mixed into the sand that is also spread on the roads. The worst places are the intersections where people slide to a stop and create sheet ice. This is NOT very conducive to safe driving. The pile ups that result can be very disastrous and deadly and be very costly to the insurance holders all over the United States.

"...the Southern California and the Deep South people will head back to where they came from to stay. When this happens, the high taxes and other things can be eliminated."

Huh? Explain that to me. The only reason someone from So Cal or the deep South would move to the NE is because of jobs. As working members of society, they generate more tax revenue than services they consume. If they leave, taxes will go up, not down. (Less working people to support the non-working people staying behind.)

Wait a MINUTE!!

It's NOT table salt that you're supposed to use?

There are different types?

This California boy is all turned around. You need to have a post - Guide to Winter (for Californians)

Here in southern California, winter means we have 5 days of rain.

It's NOT table salt that you're supposed to use?

There are different types? ,

Rock salt is used for salting and sanding the roads. It is mixed with the sand before it is loaded into the trucks that are used to plow the snow off the roads. This type of salt can be crushed to make table salt, but why bother. Calcium Chloride is also used to remove that ice from the roads in some areas, because it reduces the corrosive effect of the salt

Good Lord! What's your boss going to do when winter finally arrives. So far we've had 70 degree weather in January and no days under zero degrees. Hell, Spring is only three more months away. He's getting off real easy this year.

I hate winter. I don't go up your way between October and March if I can help it. But even I know: salt is salt. Sodium chloride.

The only difference between Mortons (e.g.) and "rock salt" is that the former has been purified -- dissolved and the dirt separated out before being crystallized again. Rock salt is just the way it came from the mine or evaporator pan.

Purification costs money, so table salt is more expensive per pound. The chemical composition is the same. Table salt is usually faster melting than rock salt, because it's more finely divided, but you can't afford it for roads. You can season your food with rock salt, too. The dirt is ugly but usually isn't unhealthy; it's like eating sand. Don't try it with the calcium chloride alternative stuff, though.

Regards,
Ric

Don't pin too many roses on those of us who grew up in colder climes. There are a lot of people in Ohio who drive as though they have NEVER seen snow or even rain!

Especially in Columbus. Unless they are driving an SUV in a thunderstorm in the I-70/I-71 bottleneck, er, "corridor", then they drive like a Indy-500 also-ran.