denver to san francisco end of Nov in a sedan not made for snow

[jaydee]

I will be flying to Denver at the end of November. I will be purchasing a sedan that is not set up to drive in the snow and ice and plan on driving it back to San Francisco.

What is the safest route to take? (is there such a thing?) Should I carry chains?

[killer]

As always it depends on the weather when you are there, right now (11/10) there is a lot of snow on I70 but by the end of the week it will be gone. There is no way to tell what conditions will be for a given time in November. I70 is a nice drive from Denver west, much more scenic than I80, it will put you on US50 in Nevada which is also much nicer than I80 but is a two lane road subject to weather vagaries. I would say that if the weather is bad take I25/I80 else I70/US50/I80.

[RoadTripper Brad]

Anytime you travel the mountains out west, it's a good idea to carry chains... its just sort of an 'insurance policy'. If you do have the time and the money, a set of studded tires is definately a good investment... it beats trying to drive in snow and ice without them.
-Brad M.

[killer]

Anytime you travel the mountains out west, it's a good idea to carry chains... its just sort of an 'insurance policy'. If you do have the time and the money, a set of studded tires is definitely a good investment... it beats trying to drive in snow and ice without them.
-Brad M.

Since he's taking the car to SF I doubt he will want studded tyres! Here's what can happen when you are caught out, this belongs to an aquaintance of mine in the Denver area who picked the wrong weekend to go over the Rockies to Moab (taken Sunday)

[Robert Schaller]

Man, that's just wrong! :) I hate when that happens! Bob

[jaydee]

Is that a main highway? So even if I took I25 to I80, I could still get stuck like that.

If there is a big storm, how long typically would I have to wait it out before I could get back on the road? Would chains work in a bad situation like that? How far can you drive on chains?

Obviously I have very little experience with driving in snow.

[killer]

Is that a main highway? So even if I took I25 to I80, I could still get stuck like that.

If there is a big storm, how long typically would I have to wait it out before I could get back on the road? Would chains work in a bad situation like that? How far can you drive on chains?

That was on I70 and I25 or I80 could certainly see conditions like that, of course that was on the shoulder which probably makes it look worse than the actual road was. Three other motorcycles made it back to Denver with only minimal excitement.

Even after a monster storm the roads are usually open within a day, very unlikely that they will be closed at all, the plows run all the time. Chains would help a lot, you can drive pretty much indefinitely over snow with well fitted chains as long as you don't go too fast (everybody does!) You don't want to drive further than you have to over clean pavement, not good for the tyres, chains or pavement.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Since he's taking the car to SF I doubt he will want studded tyres!

I have seen weather like that this early too. I am not ready for winter to get here....

Thanks for the photo though!

Mark

[PNW Judy]

Since he's taking the car to SF I doubt he will want studded tyres!

Great photo! Gosh, I bet it was cooooold riding those bikes!!

Question: Does SF get a lot of ice? Where I live, snow is rare. However ice, especially black ice, is quite common in the winter. I have studs on all winter long. It makes a huge difference when you hit ice.

I doubt SF does get that but there are also winter tires that are designed to get better traction in snow and ice that don't have studs in them. That might be something to look into.

[killer]

Question: Does SF get a lot of ice? Where I live, snow is rare. However ice, especially black ice, is quite common in the winter. I have studs on all winter long. It makes a huge difference when you hit ice.

I doubt SF does get that but there are also winter tires that are designed to get better traction in snow and ice that don't have studs in them. That might be something to look into.

San Francisco gets no ice at all (maybe a freak occurance every 50 years) The whole of the Bay Area gets very little moist freezing weather, when it's cold it's dry and vice versa. I've travelled to and from the Sierras many times over the years and never had anything other than regular tyres, I bet I haven't used chains more than 5 or 6 times and I used to ski quite a lot at Tahoe.