Originally Posted by
cyccommute
You can still see it. It's not "invisible". Rime ice (the type that would form from water vapor freezing out of the air at 0°F) traps a lot of air in it and appears white. True "black" ice is appears as a wet surface because the surface is either wet or it is reflective or both.
Saying that you "were just driving along and hit a patch of black ice that I didn't see" is the motorist's equivalent of a JRA in bicycling.
Kinda funny, the Minneapolis people are all saying the same thing about black ice - commonly form at sub-zero temps from auto exhaust at traffic lights. I know that CO gets cold enough to see these conditions, not sure why you're arguing with the MN peoples ?? I could understand someone in LA, but you should understand this version of black ice. It is damn hard to see (it is not white at all) and the uninitiated/inattentive will be caught off guard - and at the wrong time, when your hitting the brakes for a red light.