Seal coating in cold weather

Most of the sealcoatings used are water-based.  Either based on refined tar or asphalt Emulsion.  You could expect 60 to 70% of the sealcoating being applied to be water.  In order for seal coating to dry all of the water needs to be released from its top layer to the bottom layers.  As it dries a film will appear over the top layer and it will become more and more difficult for the water to escape.  This is why we never step on freshly sealed asphalt even when it looks dry.  Even a small bit of moisture in the bottom layers left to freeze can cause disbonding and peeling and will likely fail prematurely.  Even if your days are warm, an overnight temperature that is below freezing is all that is needed to cause permanent damage.