Science says you should scrape snow off your car ASAP. Here’s why – NBC4 Washington

We’re all taught in grade school science class that water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. So when temperatures stay around that cold even during the day, it’s easy to assume that means the snow won’t melt — and you don’t need to worry about it re-freezing into ice.

Unfortunately, it’s a little more complicated than that: Science says you should scrape the snow off your car as soon as you can once the flakes stop falling.

News4 meteorologist Ryan Miller performed a science experiment Tuesday to show how it works.

By placing one thermometer outside his car, in the freezing weather, and one thermometer inside his car, he showed how much higher temperatures can get in a closed, insulated environment. The difference on Tuesday was almost 10 degrees.

That difference in temperature means that snow on the surface of those warmer structures melts in sunlight. That includes cars, but it also includes driveways and sidewalks.

What does that mean? Snow that melts into liquid before the temperature drops significantly — as its expected to on Tuesday night going into Wednesday — will re-freeze.

Where on Tuesday afternoon the snow was soft, slushy and easy to get off your car roof and windshield, on Wednesday, it could form one big block of ice.

So, before the temperature drops way below freezing after sunset, you might want to go scrape your car and shovel your driveway.

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