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Your definition of black ice

C

CAROGATOR

Member
What I knew as black ice in Wyoming is a lot different than what the weather guesser in S.C. describes. Always thought it took 0 and below to make black ice. Here if it looks black cause you can see the asphalt, they call it black ice.
What say You?
 
Black ice from experience with it in IN, OH, AZ, CA, CO, MT, and MN, is A road colder than 32 degrees that freezes rain or mist in a way that is near invisible, and slippery from the water on the surface. When it gets much colder, and is not wetted, it is just ice. It is usually much more visible in that condition, and has a bit more traction. Jim
 
Black ice from what I have learned is ice that freezes on the road etc in such a way that you can not tell that it is there since all you see if the color of the pavement and in most cased the roads are black so if covered with ice it is black ice due to the color it appears to be
 
Black ice from what most weathermen in Mn. say is when it's well below zero and the car exhaust starts freezing to the road which is many times invisible. I suppose it would also apply to the other explanations so far as well.
 
Anything that makes me S%$T my drawers when the truck decides it wants to turn or move without my input. Usually when you can't even tell it's there. We just had 2 semis pull a 180 on the expressway in 2 days.
 
It's called black ice because you cannot see it.

Forms when rain hits ANYTHING frozen. Way, way slicker than snowpack ice.

Dangerous stuff; ran into it on Sunday east of Lusk at twenty-some degrees.

Allan
 
Yeah,

Sittin' totally still and the ol' gal starts slidin' off the road sideways due to the road crown.

Can't even stand on that crap!

Allan
 
Its called black ice because I can see the asphalt as clear as day or night, and then I end up black and blue from falling on my head and other body parts for no good reason.

Mark
 
one spot thats good is bridges and overpasses cold air going under it.
usually black ice is followed by an aw shucks moment when your younger you look at your buddy say gee thats fun lets do it again
 
Black Ice ya say Black ice is where your trucking along a 70 MPH and your buddy behind you come on the C B and says HEY GHOST WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN I CAN READ YOUR PLATE NUMBER-------- OFF THE PAYMENT . Never EVER just lift your foot off the GO pedal all the way , Jake brake kicks in and puts the fire OUT . Power steering sets up in concrete , truck starts to the wha to see , YOUR trying to keep everything in line usen both lanes plus the berms on both sides one handed while trying to do a restart and get everything somewhat back to where it was under power . One min wet roads next min. slip sliden all over the place . Not a fun feeling looking in the mirror and seeing the name plate on the side of a dump trailer in the mirror . . I would rather drive in three feet of snow then and 1/8th inch of black ice . One min it was wet and the next it was ICE that fast.
 
Thought about that today when I saw a spot in the parking lot where someone dumped their cup of coffee. No doubt about it, it was BROWN ice. Would have been black ice if they hadn't used creamer.
 
Here in Oregon, living on the slopes of Mt. Hood, I am very familiar with the different forms of ice on the roads. Some winters I deal with it on a daily basis. Here is how I define ice on the roads. First, there is freezing rain, which will show up very clearly on the roads. Studs and chains are effective on freezing rain. Second, there is black ice, which usually does not show up either in color change or a sheen on the pavement. Third, there is freezing fog, which is absolutely nasty. Freezing fog can be very spotty, and studs on the tires can be useless. Freezing fog is the slickest conditions for some reason. Learning the conditions, and compensating for changing conditions is extremely important around here. I drive fifteen miles to work every day, starting a 1485 elevation and ending up at sea level. I'm thankful to say that in twenty years of driving steep mountain roads, I've never had a problem. Two words of advise for everyone: first have good equipment and don't overdrive conditions.
 
I think it can happen just about anywhere. We get it here in TX once or twice a year.

I've heard the weatherman explain it happens when the atmosphere is warmer above the ground, the rain falls as liquid then freezes after it settles out on the ground.

Slicker than green owl... feathers!
 

Here in New England by far the most common occurrence of black ice is when there is a little snow fall as in just a quick snow squall or the start of a storm with no treatment on the road, and passing car's tires momentarily melts the snow then it freezes due to the cold pavement.
 
Black ice here in Northern Maryland is really nothing new, and quite common. It happens when moisture hit the pavement and freezes. It has happened when fog has wet the surface of a road, and it freezes, either from air temperature, or surface temperature. It looks like wet pavement, but is actually a slick layer of thin ice. It can be quite dangerous to walk or drive on.....
 
Black ice is the invisible force (looked no different than a plain wet road)what caused me to go from traveling in a forward direction, in the far right lane, to traveling across 4 lanes and eventually ending up traveling backwards into the far left lane....right where another vehicle had been setting just seconds earlier. In my case it was caused by water on a bridge that had frozen due to the wind chill around the bridge, even though the rest of the roads were covered in nothing but a light rain that passed through overnight.
 
When moisture freezes on the pavement and you can see through it, it's black ice. Hard to tell it's there because it's clear. A friend of ours was killed in an accident on the way to work a few years ago that involved black ice.
 
Showcrop I am from New England also.what you describe is mighty slippery but not black ice. Black ice is as others have said water freezing on pavement forming clear ice. It looks like a wet road.
 
tedregentin:
Which slope of Mt Hood are you from? I used to live in The Dalles. I long to return. One of the most beautiful areas of this country. And to qualify this statement, I have visited 49 states and have lived in 10 of them.
I hear the snow pack on Hood is way down this winter so far? Bad news for the water supply this summer!
 
The conditions that you describe in your post do not define "black ice". First, black ice forms when the air temp is at or just below freezing and the road is below freezing. The clear ice that forms is not hard frozen and is extremely slippery and it is nearly impossible to stand or drive on it.
When the temp is near zero it is not likely that any ice can form because all of the air moisture is frozen before it hits the road. At zero degrees any ice that forms would have some friction and you can stand and drive on it. Here in the north we drive across lakes on many cold days and have no problems moving.
 
John, I'm on the west side of Hood, near Parkdale. The snow pack is real bad this year. We have had almost no snow. This is the mildest, driest winter I can remember. Yes, it will be a real problem this summer for irrigation around here. I've lived elsewhere also, and this area is just an amazing place to live.
 
(quoted from post at 03:13:08 01/29/14) Showcrop I am from New England also.what you describe is mighty slippery but not black ice. Black ice is as others have said water freezing on pavement forming clear ice. It looks like a wet road.
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Well I will let you call it what you want, LOL, but here in NH where I have been driving 35,000 miles a year for fifty years, much of it in the northern parts, We have many black ice events as referenced by the media and the OFFICIAL NH DOT SPOKESMAN Don Boynton. These events are rarely accompanied by any form of liquid precipitation. In addition I am friends with various town road agents and Highway department heads, as well as the local NH DOT PATROL SECTION SUPERVISOR, Who at the coffee shop always call a black ice event as I have described it with again, with NO LIQUID PRECIPITATION. Here in the north, with our black ice, the big danger is that the pavement looks dry yet it is actually ice covered. I will agree that water covered black ice is way more slippery than the dry type, but the dry type will do a lot more damage here in NH simply because it is far more frequent. I know that wet ice will put more cars off the road faster than dry black ice but wet black ice here in the north is not a common occurrence.
 
Don't know what has changed. We used to have ice on the roads here but since we got all the fancy equipment and weather casters here, we only have BLACK ICE now. What ever happened to JUST ICE. STill slick, still can't drive on it, still bust yours on it. Mini Rant.
 
I can relate to that! About 12 years ago I got a GOOD lesson in cruise control use and black ice! I had the cruise control "on" while traveling I 70 in MIssouri. Roads were clear in January, I crossed a bridge that was "clear ice" covered. 'Couldn't see anything different from the rest of the road. Wow.....next thing I knew I was totally out of control sliding and doing donuts across that bridge. 'Broadsided the concrete railing towards the end of the bridge and crashed down into about a 10' ditch. I'm convinced the seat belt and air bag saved my life. Totaled the pickup, but walked away from it....with a BAD bloody nose from the air bag. Those things hurt! I've pretty much quit using cruise control now...lesson learned!
 
Funniest I heard recently was "Black ice on top of the snow"!. Whole point of black ice is that you can"t see it....the skidding is a total surprise. Weatherguesser in NO advised this morning that you remove the ice from the windshield before driving so you don"t wipe the ice across the windshield and reduce visibility! Can"t make this stuff up.
 
I will consider myself corrected. I am in Nh also,Hillsborough Cty. where are you if you don't mind saying.
 
(quoted from post at 14:30:39 01/29/14) I will consider myself corrected. I am in Nh also,Hillsborough Cty. where are you if you don't mind saying.
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I live in Chester, just a few thousand yards from Hillsborough County. I have primarily Fords, and am big into pulling competition. I see that you are in Hancock. I drove through there week before last.
 
(quoted from post at 15:15:47 01/29/14) Ice that does not reflect/looks like dry pavement.

Brad
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This is what I've always thought of as black ice.
an ice covered road is just that, 'ice covered' or 'icy roads'
black ice you can't see at all.
asphalt is like sandpaper, grit up.
when ice fills all the crevices, it's slick and you can't tell it's there.
Don't even need a weather event, frigid wind blowing across the road can do it.
(an asphalt parking lot is a good place to see it undisturbed)
 
(quoted from post at 07:00:25 01/30/14)
(quoted from post at 15:15:47 01/29/14) Ice that does not reflect/looks like dry pavement.

Brad
Click to expand...

This is what I've always thought of as black ice.
an ice covered road is just that, 'ice covered' or 'icy roads'
black ice you can't see at all.
asphalt is like sandpaper, grit up.
when ice fills all the crevices, it's slick and you can't tell it's there.
Don't even need a weather event, frigid wind blowing across the road can do it.
(an asphalt parking lot is a good place to see it undisturbed)
Click to expand...

That is probably a better explanation than I gave. Most people have no clue when they are on black ice. I used to drive south on the interstate in NH in the evening once a week for 25 years. In a snow event you could go from wet surface to black ice in an instant when you crossed from one patrol section to another. Many times under those conditions I would open my door so that it was still latched but not tight, so that I could hear the water spray. When I stopped hearing it I knew to slow down and soon I was going by cars off the road.
 
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