If your windshield looked like frosted glass this week, you weren't imagining it. Freezing fog is back, and with it comes the slick stuff you can't see.
NWS warns of icy roads around Fairbanks
On Tuesday morning, Oct 13, the National Weather Service warned that temps around or below freezing could leave icy spots on roads. The special weather statement covered Fairbanks, North Pole, Ester, Fox, Eielson, and Salcha, plus Nenana, Healy, Delta Junction, Tok, and stretches of the Parks, Richardson, Steese, Elliott, and Taylor highways. Drivers and people out walking were asked to use extra caution. A dense fog advisory followed for the Fairbanks metro until 7 AM Wednesday.
Read the story from Alaska News.
Why freezing fog makes black ice
Freezing fog is just tiny water droplets hanging in air that's below freezing. When they touch a cold road, step, or deck, they freeze into a thin clear glaze. It looks like wet pavement, which is exactly why it gets people. Bridges, shady spots, and wooden steps go first because they lose heat fastest.
Driving on black ice in Fairbanks
- Leave early and give yourself twice the following distance.
- Brake gently and early. No sudden moves.
- Clear every window before you go. Fog plus a peephole windshield is a bad combo.
- If you start to slide, ease off the gas and steer where you want to go.
How to keep your steps and walkways sanded
Our take: the most dangerous ice in Fairbanks usually isn't on the Parks Highway. It's on your own front steps at 7 AM with a coffee in your hand.
- Keep a bucket of sand or fine gravel and a scoop right by the door, not in the shed.
- Sand the steps, the path to the car, and the spot where you step out of the driver's door.
- Ice melt works in the shoulder season, but it gives up once it gets really cold. Sand works at any temperature.
- Fix loose railings and add grip tape to wooden steps now, before they're buried.
- Knock down icicles over doorways and keep gutters from dumping water onto walkways.
Don't track it all inside
The downside of sand is it comes in on everyone's boots. A boot tray and a good mat help, and so does our guide to winter salt and gravel in your carpet. When the rugs need a reset, there's carpet cleaning in Fairbanks, and The Alaska Cleaning Company can do a full house clean once the sand has made it into every room. For the railing or steps, our Fairbanks handyman can help, and when the snow piles up, snow removal keeps the paths clear.
Painting: Good Hand Co.