Round Trip December

[stevenlgr]

Hi
I am flying out to LA in the middle of Dec and driving to LA staying a few days than driving to San Francisco via Fresno, then onto Anaheim via San Louis Opisbo and from Anaheim returning to LA where i shall stay for a couple of days before returning to the UK first week of Jan.
Could anyone please advise me as to what weather and road conditions i might expect. Also the type of road conditions.
Many Thanks
Steven

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the R.T.A forums.

It is impossible to make predictions this far ahead and as we know this time of year is unpredictable, you are open to the possibilities of rain, snow, ice, fog and clear,sunny days. The best you can do is to monitor the weather nearer the time by using such links as The weather channel or Weather underground.

As for the roads, they are well maintained and the Interstates are the main priority to keep open and are rarely subject to any major delays due to weather. The 101 is also a much used route and shouldn't cause to many, if any problems. However if the weather is kind and you have the time you may want to head for coastal route 1, it's a fantastic scenic drive.

If you need any other info don't hesitate to ask.

Have a safe trip.

[glc]

The odds of finding any ice or snow on I-5, US-101, and CA-1 are just about nil. However, you may find some rain and fog (especially along the coast), but being from the UK you should be used to that!

California highways are generally very well maintained unless you get way off the beaten path.

[Midwest Michael]

As has been mentioned, your odds of seeing bad weather are pretty slim. The only place where you'd have some likely hood of seeing snow is along I-5 in the mountains north of LA. The "Grapevine" tends to close about once a winter, but even that is usually just for one night. It actually has snowed in the Central Valley (Fresno, and Bakersfield) but that's an extremely rare (once every couple of decades) event.

BTW, are you actually planning to go to Fresno? I-5 goes along the west side of the valley, so Fresno is a bit off the direct route between LA and SF. Also, Anaheim very much is part of the LA sprawl, so you might want to find a centrally located hotel and simply base all of your travels in this area from one place.

[glc]

If you are in fact going to Fresno, you will probably want to take CA-99. It's Interstate quality most of the way. It branches off I-5 south of Bakersfield.

[stevenlgr]

Many thanks for all the information.
I was led to believe that Fresno was the ideal place to stop on route to San Francisco!

[stevenlgr]

Many apologies i must ghave been tired i should have said that i was flying into LA and then driving to Vegas and from there to San Francisco.
Steven

[glc]

Ahh - that puts this in a different light!

LA to Vegas is an easy 4 to 5 hour drive, depending on where you leave from in LA and traffic. It's about 270 miles, go out to San Bernardino and take I-15. There is a slight possibility of bad weather going over Cajon Pass on I-15.

Now - from Vegas to SF, it's too bad you aren't doing this in the summer. Some of the most breathtaking scenery in the country is between them, but by December most of the mountain passes are closed for the season. You can do this in one day taking the fast route - it's about 570 miles, depending on traffic again, about 9 hours. Take I-15 back toward LA, and get on CA-58 in Barstow, take that to Bakersfield. This is your halfway point. My mapping program says get on CA-99 north to CA-46, take that west to I-5. Take that north to I-580, which will take you to the Bay Bridge.

If you are going to the south bay area and the weather is good, get off I-5 at Los Banos and take CA-152 over Pacheco Pass down to US-101 in Gilroy.

No offense to anyone from that area, but I don't think Fresno is an ideal place to stop going anywhere. It's just another valley city. Not that there's any ideal places to stop along I-5 either - but if you get tired it's easy to find inexpensive/moderate chain hotels at the exits for most fair sized towns.