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Cold weather presents a number of challenges for car owners, including its effects on your auto glass. Windshields are more vulnerable to damage when ice and changing temperatures are involved – especially when there’s already a crack in windshield glass. Here’s why winter temperatures are risky for your car.

How Cold Weather Impacts Windshields

Temperature Changes Create Cracks

Crack In WindshieldLike most materials, ice contracts when it’s cold and expands when it’s warm. If the temperature change happens too fast, the stress can put a crack in your windshield glass. The same is true if the temperature is uneven across the entire pane – for example, when the car is parked half in the shade. In some cases, these forces are strong enough to completely shatter a windshield.

Cold Weather Exacerbates Existing Cracks

If there’s already a chip or crack in your windshield glass, the expansion and contraction of fluctuating winter temperatures will make it larger over time. This process is even faster when there’s been rain or snow. Ice expands most sharply at the moment it freezes. When water seeps into the crack in the glass, then freezes overnight, it forces the glass apart and worsens cracks. 

Clearing Icy Windshields Causes Damage

An ice scraper is a good solution for a windshield crusted in ice, but it’s also an easy way to damage the glass while trying to remove a stubborn bit of ice. Car owners who strike the ice or try to dig the scraper down into the ice’s surface can create scratches, chips, or cracks. 

 

If you have a crack in your windshield glass and you want to prevent it from getting worse this winter, take your car to Hilltop Auto Glass in Apollo, PA, or visit them in Kittanning and Natrona Heights for auto glass repairs. Offering both physical locations and a mobile team serving the Alle-Kiski area , they provide quality results and unbeatable customer service whether you need minor chip repair or a full windshield replacement. To take advantage of their 40 years of experience, call (800)544-1713. To learn more about the services they offer, find them online.

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