• CptOblivius@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    The fun part of North dakota is the extremes. The record low (without wind chill) is -60 F, the record high is 122 F. That is a 182 degree spread, or 100 C spread for the rest of the world.

    • AlternatePersonMan@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I often wonder how much money Northern states would save on roads if it weren’t for the extreme temperature swings.

      Regularly hit highs over 100 in the summer, lows below -30 in the winter. That’s an awful lot of compression and expansion. Not to mention the abuse of heavy plows and their blades catching upheaved concrete.

        • jak@sopuli.xyz
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          5 months ago

          It’s actually too cold for salt to be reliable. Water fully saturated with salt freezes at ~-21/-6(c/f), so if it’s predictably getting colder than that, it’s a bad idea to use salt.

          Edit: They add beet juice when it’s really cold, but otherwise, it looks like they use salt :(

          • RedAggroBest@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            It’s salt but it’s not sodium cloride. It’s usually calcium cloride. That’s usually good to -30/-34 F/C.

            • jak@sopuli.xyz
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              5 months ago

              Interesting, I haven’t found anything to support that (but it’s weirdly difficult to research, so it could just be DDG not understanding what I’m looking for), do you have a source for that?

              I found halite (unrefined sodium chloride) as the primary type of rock salt in the US. Wikipedia lists beer, molasses, and beet juice as possible alternatives for roads or glycol and sugar for airlines.

              The EPA does list CaCl as an option, but notes that it’s both better for the environment and more expensive, so it’s reserved for vulnerable areas. I found this which doesn’t specify which they use, but gives an effective temperature range that sounds like NaCl for North Dakota.

        • tenacious_mucus@sh.itjust.works
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          5 months ago

          I lived in North Dakota for almost 5 years, they dont use salt. Just a sand/dirt mix. Things get really nasty in the spring/early summer when it all starts melting. They were trying out a weird chemical mix when we moved away, i want to say some glycol something or other? It was actually pretty slimy but way better than ice.

        • Trainguyrom
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          5 months ago

          Many places have switched to a brine which uses a waste byproduct from cheese production. This greatly reduces how much salt is thrown onto the roads and also makes use of literal waste

          Edit: looks like there’s a few different mixtures but here’s the cheese brine from Wisconsin

        • Tenderloins@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          When it gets that cold salt is useless, so thankfully we see much less of it throughout the winter. Sand is used instead. -20C and salt sort of stops working.

      • ChillPenguin@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        It’s wonder our roads look like they were shelled once spring rolls around. Last year was particularly bad, I don’t think the roads were in decent shape until the end of the summer. At least near Minneapolis.

  • 8565@lemmy.techtriage.guru
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    5 months ago

    I’m a Michigander. We don’t get ridiculous low temps like -70 or anything but, I wish most roads would be left alone. Plow and salt main Highways and expressways but, leave everything else undone. Then we can buy vehicles that can traverse the snow like sleds or good 4x4 rigs.

    This would keep our roads nicer and would keep our cars from rotting out

    • Saganaki@lemmy.one
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      5 months ago

      That’s not really feasible. School buses is one obvious reason (among many others).

    • ArtificialLink@lemy.lol
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      5 months ago

      If you have no traction it doesn’t matter how many wheels have power to them your still gonna slip.

      Amoung the tons of other issues with just not plowing some roads. Comment reeks of brainrot.

          • 8565@lemmy.techtriage.guru
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            5 months ago

            That’s where studs come in. Been there done that. Just takes more prep

            Also this is why I’m only advocating for back roads and rural roads to not be plowed. And to have people prepare themselves for that kindve environment instead of relying on us as a society to try and stop the weather from doing what it does.

            And if it’s to slick take the sled. Or snow machine

      • 8565@lemmy.techtriage.guru
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        5 months ago

        Sleds we’re mentioned for a reason. Make it the job of the individual to decide if leaving here is worth the work or not

    • zeekaran@sopuli.xyz
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      5 months ago

      Reduce car dependency, plow side roads first because main roads clear themselves.

  • Sagifurius@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    It’s a little disingenuous to compare winter in North Dakota to Miami in this manner, and to include the windchill. I don’t know the average temperature in Miami in January, but I do know that this is not “strange” for North Dakota in January.

    • Hikermick@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Thought the same. It’s disappointing to see click bait from the AP but I guess that’s the new way of doing business when nobody wants to pay for news