NBC 5 Storm Team Chief Meteorologist Brant Miller has what to expect for Monday night and beyond.
It’s a rite of winter in the Chicago area on par with “dibs” and skating at Millennium Park, as residents pull out shovels and salt to deal with wintry weather.
The Chicago area hasn’t been hammered with snow so far this winter, but this weekend’s brief warm-up and subsequent plunge back into frigid conditions did create some icy conditions around the region.
Those events likely brought up another key question in the minds of residents: how effective is salt when conditions get as cold as they have been?
According to Cargill, an agricultural supply and food company, most types of rock salt do indeed have a “practical working temperature,” and while the Chicago area is typically over that temperature, this week’s weather has not been.
According to the company, the “practical working temperature” of rock salt is generally assumed to be around 15-to-20 degrees, with any readings below that causing diminishing rates of effectiveness.
Data cited by the company shows that at 30 degrees Fahrenheit, a pound of salt can melt up to 46 pounds of ice, but at 20 degrees, that pound of salt can only melt around nine pounds of ice.
When the temperature dips below 10 degrees, as the city of Chicago has had to deal with on Monday and will deal with again Tuesday, that effectiveness drops even more, according to officials with the company.
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In addition to being less effective overall, it also takes salt longer to melt ice at those temperatures, leading to slick spots on sidewalks and roadways.
For residents in Chicago’s far southern suburbs, especially in areas south of Interstate 80, the salt question will come back to the forefront overnight Monday and into Tuesday, as a system will move through, pushing a snowband over the area and causing limited accumulations.
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With low temperatures in the single-digits, slick spots could potentially occur on roadways, even those that have been treated with salt.
Fortunately, temperatures are expected to warm back up by Thursday and Friday, with readings soaring into the upper-30s and even the low-40s before plunging back into the teens or even single-digits by Sunday.
Stay tuned to the NBC 5 Storm Team for all the latest weather news and information.
