Chicago to New Orleans

[sillysally]

My brother and I plan to fly into Chicago on Christmas day and then road trip down to new Orleans for a wedding. Does Chicago snow? Is this a good time for a road trip with road conditions? Will the ground be icy? Any help would be greatly appreciated. We plan to go to indiana and mississippi on the way down to New Orleans.

[DonnaR57]

Now, whether it will snow on/before Christmas Day this year, not even our weather guessers know for sure. Chicago has been known to get some bad blizzards, but they are usually in Jan/Feb time frame. Along your planned route, it can snow as far south as Arkansas, though it may not.

B TW, welcome to RTA!



Donna

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

We appreciate that you found some great old information from the archives, but rather than tack onto a post from 2003, I've moved this to its own thread.

In answer to your questions, yes it certainly can and does snow in the Chicago area around Christmas. I'd even disagree with Donna about problems typically waiting until Jan/February, as it very common to get at least a couple good sized snowstorms in December and even November.

The reality is that no one can possibly say what weather you might see on any given day 4 months from now, however, there is a reasonable chance that you could see snow and/or ice everywhere along your route - even into Mississippi and Louisiana. That doesn't mean you can't do it as a roadtrip, or that you will see bad weather, but it is something you need to be prepared for.

[sillysally]

My brother and I would like to fly into Chicago from San Fransisco to begin our road trip on Christmas day this year. We would like to take 6 days to trek down to New Orleans for a wedding. How are the road conditions in late December, early January? Doesn't Chicago snow? We are not experienced drivers in snow so what is it like in Chicago??? Will we need chains? Will the drive be slow and miserable? Please help. Also, any help with sights to see along the way would be very helpful!


Moderator Note: Please don't create multiple threads about the same trip.

[Midwest Michael]

I think we've already answered your questions, although if you are still confused about some aspects, you can feel free to ask a follow up.

As far as sites to see, what sorts of things are you interested in? You've got quite a few option, not the least of which would be following the Great River Road. You can also check out RTA's Map Center to generate a few more ideas.