how are road condition between dallas to Orlando in dec 19 to jan 6

[vkj]

Hi,

I am planning a road trip between dec 19 to jan 6 this year. I will start from dallas tx and will be going to orlando fl.

Has anyone taken that trip in december by road? I am trying to figure out what the road condition will be and what route should i take.

I am planning to go via atlanta but i heard there will be snow in atlanta at that time. what are other route options that i won't encounter snow.

Also, on the way, what are places that we can visit? We are flexible on time that we will be spending in orlando. The main purpose for taking road trip and not taking flight is to visit places in between texas and orlando.

Thanks in advance for responding.

VJ

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

I can't imagine where you heard that there was going to be snow in Atlanta during the day(s) that you're driving through since a reliable forecast for any given day in December is still about three months away from being formulated. Whatever your source was, simply ignore it now and in the future, and wait for NOAA to actually gather the data and issue a forecast, abut three days before you go through the city.

It is simply pointless to plan on the basis of what 'will' happen and far more beneficial and less stressful to plan on the basis of what is likely to happen. In your case, what's most likely to happen is that you'll have relatively mild weather, perhaps some rain here and there, and that's it. If you really want to worry about snow in the Deep South, know that in the highly unlikely event that it happens it will probably be light, short lasting, and melt in hours to a day at most. It is unfortunately the case, however, that the very fact that it is highly unlikely means that the towns and cities of the area have not 'wasted' a lot of tax dollars on snow removal equipment and you may just have to wait for the sun and warmth to do the removal for them.

Taken all together, I'd recommend that you just plan for the best (and most probable) weather, but leave a little flexibility in your travel plans so that you can just sit out any untoward weather, and enjoy its unusualness, rather than spend untold hours worrying about something you can't control and probably won't happen anyway.

As for what to see, that depends mostly on your tastes, interests, pace, and those of any travel companions you may have - none of which you've shared with us yet.

AZBuck

[vkj]

Thanks for responding. I am not trying to get the forecast for december of 2014, I am just trying to find out based on past historical information if there is chance of snow on any routes.
I read somewhere (I forgot where was it) that there is snow storm once or twice every year since 1990 in Atlanta. I don't know if that is in month of december or it is in any random month.

And if I just take route deep south via new Orleans, probably i won't find any snow for sure. just wanted to ask this forum to see if anyone has taken this route before in december, and what was their experience weather wise.

We are 3 families 2 adult each and total 3 children, so total of 6 adult and 3 children. We will be using a 12 seater rental van. I am trying to find all route options with places to visit so that we can plan the trip best. I am just looking for names of some places to visit on the route. Or best will be places that others have visited that have taken those routes from Dallas to Orlando.

[DonnaR57]

We traveled a route from Dallas to Orlando, two summers ago, that did not involve either New Orleans or Atlanta. It's doubtful that this route would see much snow, but the way weather has been for the past few years, anything is possible. We took I-20 from the Dallas/Ft Worth area to Jackson, MS, where we got on US-49 all the way down to I-10. Then we took that over to FL where we picked up I-75. For us, this was two long days, as it was close to 1100 miles.

If you have more than two days, there are a few places of interest along the way. (Probably a lot more than the ones I'm going to mention.) First, there is Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi. That is worth AT LEAST 4 hours. We gave it less than that and felt that we'd go back some day and do it up better. Another place was a battleship permanently anchored outside Mobile, AL. Plus there were miles of beaches, Pensacola FL.

Remember with that many people in a 12-passenger van, to allot a lot of extra time for restaurant, bathroom, and fuel stops. It might help you to split up into family groups for food, as it always seems to take restaurants extra time to try to set up a table for 9. Then they automatically add tips into the total.

BTW, another option with the route we took, would be to take US-98 from Hattiesburg down to Mobile. It cuts off a few miles. There was a reason we didn't: choice of places to stay. We aimed for Wiggins, instead, where there was a nice Best Western.



Donna

[Midwest Michael]

And if I just take route deep south via new Orleans, probably i won't find any snow for sure.

That's actually not true.

Even I-10 across the Deep South sees snow from time to time. Even Florida does see snow or ice from time to time. It's not particularly common, but then again, snow in Atlanta isn't particularly common either. Once a year is probably a fair estimate. No, snow certainly isn't isolated to December in any situation.

The point of Buck's advice is that history doesn't really matter here, and It really doesn't matter what others have seen in the past. Ultimately, You're going to be on the road during a specific period of time, and while perhaps there is a 2% chance of seeing snow on any given day in December, until you can actually see a forecast, the history or percentages really don't matter.

Plan for the route you want to take, and looks most interesting to you, but also be flexible based on what the weather might be. That's the best rule of thumb for any winter trip, even in the deep south.

[glc]

Plan your trip to go where you want to go. If it starts snowing, just find a hotel and wait it out. The odds are pretty slim that this would happen anywhere in the South in December.

[vkj]

great!! thanks!!! Now I am not worried too much about snow. And I understand anything can happen, and i will keep us flexible to deal with weather.

Thanks Donna for giving advise on routes and locations to visit. I will keep watching this thread for more advises on places to visit. I have more than two months to plan, and i am sure I will get more people responding.

I really appreciate everyone's response.

[Southwest Dave]

You will find lots of info by searching the forums and all the road trip planning pages in the tool bars above including the Map centre where you can put in your route and find attractions within a certain amount of miles from your route. These attractions are all taken from first hand experience and written by RTA contributors. You should also open up a good paper map to see what appeals to you. Once you have some of your own ideas and interests and mark them on the map and share what you have then I am sure others will help fill in the blanks and make suggestions, but at this time it should be about you discovering where you want to go. It's this that turns a journey into a unique Road trip experience.