WASHINGTON — O.K., so it’s more like 5 inches than 10 for the D.C. area. But that’s not making it any less treacherous on the roads.
Bob Marbourg, of WTOP Traffic, said on Monday at about 11 p.m. that “it is the temperatures, not the totals.” The near-record cold temperatures mean that nothing is melting on the roads, and even salt is only of limited help.
“[It’s] so far below freezing that the effectiveness of the salt is greatly diminished,” Marbourg says. At this point, he adds, the only thing salt is going to do for you is provide a little abrasiveness, to possibly give your tires something to dig into.
With such cold temperatures, it takes a lot of salt, and a lot of traffic, to “stir that snow Slurpee,” Marbourg says. When there are only a few cars on the road, “the roads are likely to remain virtually frozen solid.” And that’s the main roads – the smaller roads and neighborhood streets will probably be even worse.
Even so, Marbourg says that the decision by the federal government and most school systems to close Tuesday were smart. Getting people off the roads and out of the way of the plows is crucial. “You can only get ahead of Mother Nature after she leaves.”
