Eric Kuhnke wrote:
For those who have never visited Fairbanks, there is a phenomena observed at -15C and lower known as "square tire". The rubber in tires of parked vehicles will become stiff and freeze into position, making the vehicle impossible to move without destroying the tires.
In Ottawa, there's usually a week's worth of -25C as a _high_ temperature for the day during the winter, and occasional dips below -40C. "Square tire" just means it goes thumpity for a few hundred yards. Rubber embrittlement is more a phenomena for the -70Cs (near -100F) and below. But if you have a tire get frozen into ice, that may be a different story... More intriguing is what has to be done at high arctic places (like little Ellesmere island, the northernmost mine in the world). Most of the vehicles are Toyota diesel pickups (winter weight fuel, you betcha!). They never shut the engines down. Except when they're indoors for an oil change.