Can Gas Pumps Freeze in Minnesota’s Extreme Cold? Here’s What You Need to Know

I am pretty sure I experienced a new level of hell in Minnesota.  It all started when I got in the driver's seat to go to work and noticed that the last person who drove my car decided it was in their best interest to let the tank get to empty.

Yep.

Now, I had to step outside and be the person to fill up my gas tank on a day when the National Weather Service was yelling about "Extreme Cold".  It was -20 nasty degrees hitting my face and my fingers (I had fingerless gloves with me...because they are cuter...and I wasn't planning to pump gas!).  I'm also in a surgical boot that doesn't have any covering over the toes...which means my foot gets really cold.  What happened next made it even more challenging.

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I wanted to put the nozzle in my car and go warm up in the driver's seat.  I heard that people are getting yelled at by gas station employees for doing that, so I was an adult and stayed by the pump.  Good thing I did.

Remember, my car is on empty.  My light was on and the little robot in my car told me that I only had about 24 miles until I was going to be stopped on the side of the road because the gas would be gone.  Well, after about 30 seconds of putting gas in my car at the pump, it stopped pumping.

I looked around and wondered if anyone else only got $1.58 of gas also.  Everyone else pumping gas looked like they were enjoying life with zero issues.  So, I squeezed again and tried again.

Same thing.  It wanted to stop after another couple of bucks but I only had about 5 gallons in my car.  That was NOT enough so I tried a few more times and got about 9 gallons of gas in my car...but it was a fight to make that happen.

After I got back in my car and warmed my fingers back up, I did a little Google search and learned that I wasn't the only one who has had this happen at a gas pump.

Gas pumps so slow took me 3 mins to pump $0.43 of gas
byu/model-citizen95 inTucson

Can Gas Pumps at a Gas Station Freeze When It Gets Too Cold in Minnesota?

From my research (aka Googling), I found out that gasoline doesn't freeze easily.  However, the pumps we use at a gas station can have some issues when extreme cold temperatures exist.  Here are a few things that the slow pump might be experiencing:

• frozen water in the fuel lines
• frozen water in the filters
• equipment could be failing due to the cold temperatures
• the display at gas pumps can also malfunction during freezing temperatures

Word of advice, fill up your gas tank before it his -20 in Minnesota.  Otherwise, you may experience the same issues I did on Monday.