What temperature does water freeze at?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Nov 9, 2008
Messages
23,718
Location
NH
14F when I got up, not much warmer when I drove to work, yet the roads were wet, with puddles in spots.

I know there is a guy on here from California who says their water freezes at 50F; I guess NH water is a bit more hardy...

Yeepers, our salt budget must be huge.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
I know there is a guy on here from California who says their water freezes at 50F;

lol.gif


Yeah, that California water is weak sauce.

Water over here is hardened with lead.


On a serious note, you have to consider road/surface temp as well. For example, air ambient temp might be 34F, but if the road temp is 30F (after a cold night maybe), water may still partially freeze.
 
Yeah, I know, although it was kinda early & it hadn't been that warm last night or yesterday -- we got 8 or so inches of snow. Maybe it was warmer yesterday than I remember, and the roads kept that heat overnight?

They did a bit of tandem plowing on my drive, so, after doing a few miles at 10-15mph one's mind tends to wander. This line of thinking popped in my head, so I just had to post when I got to work.
 
I was going to mention the same thing - the air temperature isn't as important sometimes as the road surface temperature. And now that we are in February, the sun has a lot more power than it did in December and January (at least around here
smile.gif
), and some sun on a dark surface like a blacktop road can melt some serious snow and ice - salt or no salt. Odds are that salt did have some to do with it though
smile.gif
 
I know the boiling point depends on pressure. You can get water to "boil" at room temperature if you drop the pressure enough....
 
I get ice on the roof of my car and frozen windshield when it gets down to 37 at night.

Then I spray washer fluid on and it freezes to the windshield!

Here’s a picture of frozen water droplets on my car at above freezing temps

f3rse1.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I get ice on the roof of my car and frozen windshield when it gets down to 37 at night.

Then I spray washer fluid on and it freezes to the windshield!

You need better washer fluid.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I get ice on the roof of my car and frozen windshield when it gets down to 37 at night.

Then I spray washer fluid on and it freezes to the windshield!

You need better washer fluid.
smile.gif

Supertech
crackmeup2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I get ice on the roof of my car and frozen windshield when it gets down to 37 at night.

Then I spray washer fluid on and it freezes to the windshield!

Here’s a picture of frozen water droplets on my car at above freezing temps

f3rse1.jpg



You need a new thermometer or the one in the car is way off. Water does not freeze at 37f, really.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I get ice on the roof of my car and frozen windshield when it gets down to 37 at night.

Air temperature doesn't always equal water temperature though.
Clear dry air at night can allow ice to form in water with higher than freezing air temps.
http://www.fieldstudyoftheworld.com/persian-ice-house-how-make-ice-desert/

Yep that's a good one, the night sky is a black body with a fairly low temperature. But you'd have to stay away since you radiate something like 1000 watts (not all in the same direction of course).
 
I live in South Florida and I regularly make the claim that skim ice forms on Florida lakes at 50 degrees F.

Of course, it's an absolutely absurd statement that's simply meant to indicate that many of us in South Florida think 50 degrees is cold.
 
A 3 or 4 C frost is pretty common around here, so you don't need to be at zero air temp for water to freeze.
 
Originally Posted By: Cujet
I live in South Florida and I regularly make the claim that skim ice forms on Florida lakes at 50 degrees F.

Of course, it's an absolutely absurd statement that's simply meant to indicate that many of us in South Florida think 50 degrees is cold.
60*f is close to freezing and 50*f is freezing.
 
They must have used calcium chloride on the roads because salt water would have froze at 14 degrees.
 
Originally Posted By: Warstud
They must have used calcium chloride on the roads because salt water would have froze at 14 degrees.
Around here they spray magnesium chloride with the salt when they are stacking it in the salt sheds at the highway yards. Some places mix beet juice with the salt as well to help it work at colder temps. The brine they spray on the roads before a storm is usually a salt water/magnesium chloride mix. That stuff is brutal on wiring on the trucks at work.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top