Traction Change?

The TRACTION is the same. The place in the US is not relevant, and so is not the gear you start in. Traction is to understand as the friction between the loaded tire(s) and the surface it has to move on. That is a vast given thing. While cars have power to overcome this friction in normal weather circumstances and even in uphill situations, your car is far "overpowered" to work smoothly in this slippery condition. So the dose of throttle that evokes movement is way out of proportion for this surface. In the lowest gear your "torque" is the highest and will make the tire spin easier with loss of "traction", adhesion or grip. Going to second gear gives you some play on a more "controllable" part of your torque supply (graph) - in a way limiting the power output at the start. Your engine doesn't perform that well in low revolutions, and here you can take advantage of.