Maybe Mother Nature doesn’t want you to go today. Maybe that’s what the car doors are frozen shut. Car thieves would need a torch or a chisel to get into your car. Considering, what are you going to do, assuming you’re not going to allow Mother Nature the last word on the subject?

Here in McHenry County, winters get cold – some colder than others. This year hasn’t been too bad … so far. But winter isn’t over yet. Remember last year? No one told us in December of 2018 that we would get hit with a Polar Vortex and dramatically sub-zero temperatures. Likewise, there’s no guarantee that we won’t get another Polar Vortex this year, too.

The temperature, however, doesn’t have to be 30-below for your car doors to freeze shut; sometimes, you’ll have that problem when it’s only marginally below freezing.

Here in the McHenry County area, we can have rain that, as the temperature falls, will freeze solid as a rock. The streets turn into skating rinks. The trees are laced with frozen water. Our cars are covered with a sheet of ice. In the conditions described above, you may want to listen to Mother Nature.

When it’s 30-below, you may want to let Mother Nature have her way when she subtly suggests staying home today. If you break down, you’ll be stuck out in dangerously cold weather.

When the doors are frozen shut, you need to take care forcing them open. Rubber weather stripping around the doors becomes more brittle in the cold and, if frosted to the opposite surface of the door jam, can tear when you force the door open.

To open the frozen door, you need to gently attack the ice (a hammer and chisel is liable to damage the car under the ice). Warm water poured on the ice can thaw the door open. But, be careful that you don’t create a fall hazard on the pavement. Another solution is a hair dryer.

There are times when, in a McHenry County winter, though there is no apparent ice, car doors can frost shut. A simple trick to fix this problem before it happens is to apply a thin coat of household cooking spray inside the door where the metal will make contact with the rubber weather stripping.

To open a car door where the lock is frozen, you should purchase some lock de-icer ahead of time so you have it on hand when needed.