Didn't mean to give the impression I was comparing winters.

Yes, we get a lot more snow than DTW, but there's quite a number of days where the airplanes get covered with frost overnight and that has to be removed. They use the hot water and type IV procedure for that too.

The guy that came up with that procedure did a really good job running Delta's de-icing program here. The crews were (and are) well trained and they understand the benefits of both preventive maintenance and ensuring your de-icing equipment works... before the de-icing season hits.

Some stations have problems with one, two, or all three of those.