Why salt doesn't work in colder temperatures

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- Road salt works by decreasing the freezing point of water to 15 degrees rather than 32 degrees. This means that ice on the roads won’t form unless the temperature gets to 15 degrees or below.

The sun helps heat up the roads, and friction from car tires repeatedly driving over the snow and ice help warm up the road as well, both of which can help melt ice, but in the morning hours when the air temperature is in the single digits and there is continuous light snow like today, we will still likely be seeing slick spots into the afternoon.

There are, of course, other ways to gain traction on the roads, with some of the most popular alternatives being sand, kitty litter, and beet juice.

Beet juice is the only of these that actually helps de-ice the roads, it does this in a similar way to road salt, by disrupting the chemical structure of ice to slow it down from freezing. Combining beet juice and road salt will stop ice from forming in temperatures below ten degrees.

Sand and kitty litter are similar solutions to the slick roads problem, not by melting the ice but by adding more traction to the roads. Kitty litter works especially in a pinch, whereas sand is usually used on a larger scale including here in Michiana. Sand on top of snowy roadways can help melt ice on snowy days since it is able to absorb heat from the sun better than snow.