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hahaha average low in Lake Tahoe is -5 degrees C (23 F). When you think that's cold, then you truly do know nothing about winter.

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Given that the flaw revolves around road salt, and not the absolute temperature, yeah, doesn't matter in this particular case.

Regardless of whether Tahoe winters are “real winter” or not, I don’t think they use salt in CA because of the environmental effects downstream - I believe they use sand instead.

This prompted me to look up which states salt and which don't, and I learned the term "Salt Belt":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Belt

(And yeah, you're right: CA isn't one of them.)

California has a variety of climate areas, and a little googling tells me that they use various kinds of salt in the high Sierras, including the Tahoe area. Also, half of Tahoe is in Nevada, which uses salt.

Sand only works when it's barely freezing. Which can be true at low elevations, but not at 10,000'.

they use sand and gravel in Edmonton. Which is below barely freezing.

Edmonton is barely below freezing in the winter?!?

Almost thought I screwed it up... "below barely freezing", not barely below freezing.

It depends. Michigan uses sand when it's too cold for salt to have any effect.

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