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Hello fellow members,
I am planning to drive from Los Angeles to New York December 1. It's not a voluntary choice. I just have to leave at this time. I'm very worried about the snow and possibly slippery and icy roads. Please advise if it's a pretty safe idea to drive east in December. Has anyone done it around this time? And if so what was the experience like? Please do share!
Thank you
Welcome to the RTA Forum!
People drive from coast to coast every day of the year - the American Economy demands that roads stay open and be driveable year round.
It is entirely possible that you will see snow and/or ice, but at this point, there is no way of knowing where such weather could fall. You can't assume that you can go south to avoid bad weather, because even the southern most parts of the US see snow and ice.
The most important thing you can do for a safe trip is to give yourself plenty of time. You need at least 5-6 days to make this drive safely in good conditions, so you should have at least a full week available for this trip. That way, if there is bad weather, you can slow down or even stop and wait for conditions to improve. It's very rare for a storm to cause significant problems on the Interstate system for more than a day or two - case in point, I-90 is back open across NY State already, despite being hit with more than 6 feet of snow in the past few days.
Prepare yourself and your car. Make sure everything for your car is ready to go: good tires, good battery, fresh antifreeze, all lights and windshield wipers in good working order. Get a set of chains and learn how to put them on before you leave. Then make sure you have some emergency gear in the car. A couple of warm blankets, some food and water, a small tarp to lay on the snow in case you have to use your chains. Something that I never see mentioned, but if you are stuck somewhere for a while a discreet way to get rid of the water you may have to drink. That particular item can be found online. Hope this helps and safe travels.
Checking into the nearest accommodation might be a much more comfortable way to sit out a storm.
Lifey
I would not worry about chains on a cross country trip like this.
If conditions are so bad on the Interstates that chains would be required, then you are much better off pulling off and waiting for conditions to improve - especially is you don't have experience driving in winter weather.
Where are you going - NYC or somewhere else in NY State?
Not going to argue with the other posters, but here is some local experience from yesterday. Snoqualmie Pass on I 90 was closed yesterday for 4 to 5 hours because of numerous accidents due to recent snowfall. There is no place to "hole" up depending on where you got stopped, and chains were required if you were going to continue on over the pass. There are high elevations on I 40, I 70, and I 80. Personally I pack just as I stated. I'd rather have those items and not need them rather than need them and not have them. People can travel as they choose.
Nobody uses chains east of the Rockies.
Thank you all for the responses! I will be driving to my parents house in upstate New York first. Is it more advisable to go southern route just to avoid bad weather if the chance is slimmer than northern route? I just want to try to avoid snow as much as possible. I'm frightened by the snow. My car is a 2006 jetta , front wheel drive. I'll bring all necessary supplies and of course stop when necessary. As long as it's doable and many have done this trip in December I feel a little comforted .
Thank you . Sounds comforting reading this!
Exactly where in upstate NY, please?
Upstate New York
I think glc means near which city..... Syracuse? Binghamton? albany? Buffalo? etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by nylioness
Don't worry, you won't be on the road alone, and front wheel drive is a good start.
Lifey
Absolutely not! As I said in my first response, you can't assume that a more southern route will have better weather. The only thing you can do is look at weather forecasts. There are plenty of times where I-40 or even I-10 is seeing snow and ice, that can actually be avoided by going farther north. It just depends upon the exact weather patterns when you are actually on the road.Quote:
Originally Posted by nylioness
Suggestion: Look at a good map, perhaps an atlas. Plan out two, possibly 3 routes, or even more. PLAN on taking the shortest route. Then, a day or so before you leave, check the weather forecast and make sure that Plan A will work. If not, look at Plan B, or even Plan C.
Even when you're on the road, if you have a laptop or smartphone with you (to use when you're in a fuel station, rest area, etc) and check current weather, you can divert yourself around something if needed.
Interstate freeways are the FIRST to be cleared, sanded/salted, because commercial traffic MUST go through. However, there are a few places where snow and ice are uncommon, and when they do show up, the State is rather slow to respond because they don't have a lot of equipment hanging around.
Donna
"Upstate" New York is a big place - near what city would help a LOT in recommending a route.
Southern route isn't necessarily the best choice. Ice storms make roads slippery. Very cold & dry snow has a LOT more traction.
I much prefer to drive in very cold than potential icing. (and you do NOT want to be in the South when snow sticks to the road - they have no plows and aren't very good at driving in it)
Be sure you have new wiper blades and your washer reservoir has COLD WEATHER fluid in it. Good for -25F. You may or may not be able to get that at the start of your trip.
Frozen washer reservoir and pump is a bad deal.
Good, deep tread on your tires is important in snow.
And if you've never dealt with it before, it might be worth practicing in a parking lot for 30 min once you reach snow to learn how the car handles.
And a fresh battery in the car might be essential to getting it started if the temp is near 0 or so.
hello again,
I am planning to drive from Los Angeles to New York via the southern route and passing by these states:
Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennesses, West Virginia, Pennsylvania.
I read that I-10 will get you from Los Angeles to Louisiana.
I was thinking of driving along 1-10 until we get to New Orleans. What is the most straight forward route to drive from Louisiana to get to New York?
Also, if there are any suggestions on places that I must visit along this route, please do share!
1. Arizona - Grand Canyon and Sedona
2. New Mexico - Not sure what to visit yet.. but would like it to be along the way, if possible.
3. Texas - Will try to drive pass it. If there is some place worth visiting that is along the way, please share!
4. Louisiana - French Quarters, New Orleans
5. Mississipi - ???? No idea..
After Mississippi, we just plan to drive directly to New York.
Would anyone have any idea approximately the time or mileage it will actually take me to drive this route?
Thank you!
[EDIT: PLEASE DO NOT MAKE NEW THREADS FOR THIS TRIP -- KEEP ALL OF YOUR RESPONSES IN THIS CURRENT THREAD.... -- Moderator]
Welcome to RTA!
First thing I'd do, if I were you, is to get yourself a good set of maps and/or road atlas, and start looking at the routes yourself. Yes, I-10 goes from LA to Louisiana -- and beyond. It goes all the way to Jacksonville, FL.
If you were to drive from LA to NYC via the most direct route, it would take you 6 days in normal weather without any sightseeing. For us, the most direct route 3 years ago was I-15 to I-40, to I-81 in TN, to I-80 in PA, east to NJ and beyond to NYC. (I-78 is better for most other people, but we were actually going to a town along I-80 in NJ.)
Going the way you are talking about -- it's 1900 miles from LA to NO, LA. Texas along I-10, btw, is very sparsely populated. There are a few things worthwhile to see, if you have the time. Then from there, I-59/24/75/40/81/78 is the combination that is probably the most direct route from NOLA to NYC.
Donna
At this point, until you start looking at some maps, any advice you get here is going to be pretty meaningless.
The fact that you've only "read" that I-10 will get you from California to Louisiana and you aren't sure if you can visit New Mexico, tells me you don't even have a basic lay of the land, which really is the first step to planning any trip.
I will say, when you look at a map, you'll discover that the Grand Canyon is nowhere near I-10, so that's a major detour from your current plan. You still also haven't told us where you're going beyond the huge target of "upstate NY," which makes it impossible for us to give you an accurate idea of routes or travel times.
Having said that, going via I-10 and New Orleans means you're going to be looking at around 500 miles of extra driving vs. going a more direct route - so that's a minimum of 1 extra day on the road and that's assuming you don't hit any bad weather - and you'll need at least a full week, plus time for siteseeing, extra detours like to the Grand Canyon, and weather delays.
But once you start doing a little bit of the work yourself to at least get a lay of the land, we can do much more to help you along your way.
Orange County Wallkill, New York
Yes, I knew that Grand Canyon is further North from I-10. The plan was to start heading toward 1-10 after visiting Grand Canyon first and then Sedona and not originally from Los Angeles. I didn't specify because I wanted to make it brief. I see now that I have to be specific, lol. Sorry.
I definitely want to visit Grand Canyon and Sedona so that is why I'm willing to make that detour. And I definitely want to visit New Orleans. I know New Orleans is at the very southern tip (which annoys me because New York is up North but I do want to visit).
After having read what you and others have written, I might change my mind and just take direct route after Arizona (I still want to visit Grand Canyon and Sedona no matter what). Louisiana can wait.
This trip is really just to get back home to New York and I thought to kill two birds with one stone kinda thing by visiting places I haven't been yet but always wanted to.
I came to LA over a year ago. Took the Northern Route: 1-80, 1-70 etc, etc passing through PA, OH, IN, IL, IA, NE, CO, UT, NV). I drove to LA in September though so weather was perfect. If I were to take this route again (Northern) in December, I'm just concerned about snow. That's why I was looking into Southern route and trying to make the best of it by visiting Louisiana also. Now that I'm hearing Southern route can get snow and ice too, and that the response clean up time may not be as quick concerns me even more.
I think I'll visit Grand Canyon and Sedona and from there I'll follow my GPS' direct route (whatever that may be) back to New York :/ Sounds boring, I know but too complicated for me to plan everything out on my own. I just wish I had someone to do all the driving/planning for me, while I sit back and relax, lol.
I really appreciate everyone's responses. Very helpful :)
Thanks, Donna
Orange County, New York. Wallkill near Middletown, NY
The most efficient route avoiding major mountains and known high snow areas is as follows:
I-15 north out of LA to I-40 east to Oklahoma City. I-44 to St. Louis, I-70 to Columbus, I-71 to I-76 to I-80 to I-81 to I-84 to NY-208.
This is 2800 miles and in good weather will take a minimum of 5 days. This will take you right past the Grand Canyon.
If you really want to go via New Orleans, you will have to forego the Grand Canyon and it will add 450 miles. Take I-10 all the way to NOLA, then I-59 to Chattanooga, I-75 to I-40 to I-81, then I-84 to NY-208. This makes it a 6 day trip minimum.
Thanks, GLC.
Why am I not notified automatically by email or some sort of alert when I get a response on this thread? Weird.
The first route you mentioned is what sounds more likely for me. Plus it gets me to Grand Canyon which is top priority. This really sums up everything. Thank you!
You can be -- you need to "subscribe" to this thread and then you will get notifications -- unless you are saying that you did subscribe and the notifications are not happening? If that is the issue, I will look into this.Quote:
Originally Posted by nylioness
Mark
Among the best maps available are those from AAA (free to members). If you are not already a member I would urge you to take out a roadside assistance membership before this trip. It could pay you to take out a premium membership. Small price to pay for peace of mind in the case of any breakdown along the way. Great help not only for mechanical breakdowns, but should you have a flat tyre or lock your keys in the car.Quote:
Originally Posted by Midwest Michael
You should get a map of the complete USA to give you the overview you so obviously need. Then get a map of every State through which you will be travelling. It is also handy to have a detailed map of places like New Orleans or any other major urban area you will pass through. All free from AAA to members.
Whatever you do, do NOT rely on your technology alone. Many have done so at their peril. Good paper maps and the ability to read them should be your primary tool for navigating.
Lifey
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Mark