“Don’t ignore it.” When it gets cold, check your tire pressure

It happens every year. Idaho gets an arctic blast of cold weather and temperatures plummet to below zero. Roads go from grippy to slippery in a matter of minutes.

With the cold temperatures, chances are you’re car’s tire pressure has dropped a bit too. A lot of modern cars have little warning lights on their dash to tell you when your tire pressure is low. Often people ignore the light as it comes on regularly, but should you?

Don’t worry but don’t ignore it, says Steve Martin of Quick Lane Tire and Auto in Idaho Falls.

“A good idea is to have a tire pressure gage in your glove box,” said Martin. “Most vehicles have a placard inside your doorway that tell you what the cool PSI is on the tire. Take a look and make sure that all those tires measure out.”

PSI or pressure per square inch is how tire pressure is measured. A cool PSI is the level your tire’s should register after resting for an hour or two. Tires heat up when driven, meaning you’ll need to let your car sit before getting an accurate cool PSI reading.

Martin says if your tire pressure is off, adjust them as necessesary. Once tire pressure levels are where they should be, the low pressure light should turn off. On some cars, the monitor needs to be reset manually after tires have been adjusted. Most owners manuals explain how to do that. If you’ve adjusted your tire pressure to the optimal level, and the tire pressure monitor still won’t turn off, that’s when Martin says you should stop by a mechanic.