Cold winter temps means lower tire pressure - what you need to know

Winter tire pressure tip - you want to check it, and fill it

Colder temperatures means your tire pressure is probably dropping. Derek Kevra gives us a science lesson why - and what we can do.

FOX 2 - When the temperature gets cold, Derek Kevra thinks of thermo dynamics. 

No, really. We're talking tires on your car. It means when the temperature falls - the pressure falls. 

Dig deeper:

That might mean if you are getting a warning about low tire pressure from your vehicle. This exact thing happened to Derek recently.

We talked to Kenny the car guy about it a couple years ago and he explained it.

"Every 10 degrees of temperature drop, it is going to reduce your tire pressure by one PSI," he said.

We are at a 40 degree drop from where we were

Cars have, inside the driver side door frame, tire information on a sticker. All cars are a little different - for example on a FOX 2 Ford Explorer, it says 36 PSI. 

Depending on the car, sometimes the front is different from the back.

What you can do:

Most newer cars do have tire pressure sensors, but it is a good idea to also have an old school tire pressure gauge that fits on the stem (after twisting off the cap) to manually take a look at it. 

Ideally, you want to check a couple times just to make sure.

Also - if you have a sensor that gives you information on the PSI already, you still might want to check both using a gauge the old fashioned way and by looking at your internal car display. 

Sometimes, the reading updates from the sensor slower than the real-time PSI. So you may want to look at both. 

Kevra went out to the garage and saw that the Explorer was showing that it was a little low with a tire pressure of 30 PSI.

Gas stations usually have air pumps for free, but it may cost a few quarters. Then, check it again. But don't fill them too high.

If you do, let a little out. And do the same when temperatures go back up.

Having good tire pressure is good for better traction on the ground and fuel economy.