Advice for interstate driving with snow

Typical Pennsylvania weather is some snow every day with moderate storms from time to time, but not this year, not now. Weather conditions have set up that are directing storms from west to east and the storms are so big they stretch from northern Pennsylvania to the Carolinas. Worse, a blizzard up north might be an ice storm down south. That is why a change of route down the coast won't work. There is so much snow already on the ground it makes it harder for crews to clear the roads. If you had to walk out you would need snowshoes. If you go, bring snow chains and the ability to put them on. Bring shovels, water, provisions, and blankets. If anyone has medical conditions that might need emergency treatment, you might not be able to get it. I need to drive a truck from NYC to Pittsburgh and back and I am waiting until April.

dobs108

Drive south and get out of the weather faster, not speed but time wise. One out of the weather start heading west. May be longer route but may have less bad weather. I'd say take I95 south all the way to I10 west but that would be a very long trip. Other than that I'm not sure what route would be good to get off at to head west. Maybe I20 through Columbia SC, Augusta and Atlanta. Drive safe what ever way you go.

Reschedule your trip. The road conditions are bad enough for people who have to be somewhere. Don't add to the problems by taking an RV into the ditch somewhere. Unless you are very familiar with driving a big outfit on very slippery roads, you aren't likely to make it without an accident.

Another huge storm coming through the Midwest now, Due in Cleveland on Tuesday with large snow falls. I would postpone your trip a couple days if you can. Stay out of the south east, these winter storms have been tracking the I-95 corridor one after another all winter.

Shovel,blankets,gloves,food,water,road-salt and don't forget a pair of boots in case you have to walk.

Just be sure to stay up to-date with the latest forecasts. Don't depend on the weather channel, they seem to be to broad in predictions. Instead go to the local cities that you will be traveling through here on the internet, and find the local tv stations radar and extended forcasts.

I would wait if I could. With the snow moving in on Tuesday, there is not a real good way of getting to where you are going. But, if I had to make the trip, I think I would take I-81 south to I-40. Hopefully, you can get far enough south before the bad stuff hits and you will be in rain instead of snow.

You could be fully prepared and know how to drive your rig in the snow, but there is one wild card - the other guy - all it takes is one fool in the way to ruin your day. Could be an accident, a stuck car or a big rig going uphill with no chains. Once traffic grinds to a halt the plows can't get through, and you are parked for the duration.

dobs108

I live in Canada and deal with snow about 5 to 6 months a year. It isn't impossible to drive in the winter but there are accidents all the time when the weather here gets bad. A big rig like that is almost impossible to control if it starts to skid. You can also not avoid someone who looses control in front of you or crosses the center line. One trick is to keep cruise control off. If the roads are cleared of snow then you should be OK but I would not want to count on that with more snow on the way.

Even if you just end up in a ditch pulling an RV out will not be cheap.

Bob

Nicpfeif12, we are dying to know what happened on your trip, or are you frozen in a snow bank somewhere?

dobs108

I hope you had a safe trip.
Also waiting for a report.

I hope you are having fun in the sun and not frozen on the run.

Bob

HOPE ALL GOES WELL

?

I'm sure no news is good news!

Sometimes no news means he is upside down in a ditch somewhere. Hummmmmmm

Let us know you are OK

look for toll roads, usually cleaned before other roads

have a safe trip

True, but the only toll road available, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, goes directly west right into the teeth of the storm.

dobs108

Wow i forgot about this post until i just saw my old posts when signed in. The trip was successful. We took 95 south through baltimore and Dc to ricmond without any precipitaion. After richmond we got some heavier rain downpours but no snow at that point. snow along the medians was melting and loking good at that point we decided we'd stay on I-40 after the I-85/40 concurrency. The weather looked fine on the Interstate forecasts and no threat was made at that point of Blizzards. Wasn't that easy though. We went stopped in asheville to visit the biltmore estate. At that point we learned of the Rock Slide at Pigeon River gorge in Tennesse That had I-40 closed. We could've went north with the detour (I-240) but that was heading into the storm. The lady there also warned us of multiple Blizzard Warnings in Tennesse along the I-40 corridor. At that point the decision to take I-26 east was made. The rest of that day was beautiful. We stopped for dinner and then picked up I-85 again and followed that through atlanta to I-20. We eventually bedded down for the night. Weather was all fair to this point. We drove through the rest of Georgia Alabama and Mississippi and most of Lousiana without incident the 2nd day and stayed at a walmart somewhere. The first hint of trouble started after an early gas-up at a walmart in Rouston LA. At this point we got on the freeway at about 8am and the skies didn't look good. There was also a blizzard warning for most of the I-20 corridor. We hit snow at about 8:30 and it didnt let upat all. It was the wet snow that makes for very treacherous driving conditions. Anyway it stayed with us for the rest of the day it reduced our speed to about 45 mph through most of I-20 to dallas.The 635 LBJ freeway around dallas prove a reall challenge to any eastern driver. We learned that they don't salt their roads in TX and their drivers don't slow down. They were going about 70 through the storm and we were doing about 40. After we got on Us 287 It was just as bad and there was about 1.5 lanes available. It was a treacharous slow ride to WF. We stopped about halway to gas up and add some water to our tanks to give us traction on the highway.WQe did about 50 all the way up for the rest of the ride to Wichita Falls. We arrived without any major incident at about 9pm a7 hour ride took about 13. We later found out that Dallas got 10 inches of snow/ the 2nd most in the last hundred years. it was a fun trip but we did get boned all the way around with the snow

I have also forgotten the post. Since it is now the middle of the hot summer you would have melted out of the snow bank by now. Nice to hear that you got back without too much trouble.

It is easy to forget the cold dark days of winter in the middle of a hot August day but thanks to seeing your post, I'm not complaining about the heat anymore.

Bob