Driving from southern Oregon to Virginia in mid- November

[Mel24]

I am planning a big move in mid- November from OR to Va. I am just wondering if this is a good idea or not given the snow potential this time of year. I will be driving a toyota corolla and will have chains if needed. I thought maybe my best bet would be to head down through CA and take I-40 most of the way. However, I know this would add considerable time to the trip and therefore more gas expense. Any advise or feedback would be great!

[Mass Tim]

Welcome to the RoadTrip America Forum!

As with anything weather related, the best you can do is to keep your eyes on the weather forecasts for a few days beforehand and if it looks like you are going to run into any significant problems, have an alternate route (or two) available to you.

I also think that it would be highly unlikely you would have to travel that far South before heading East on this trip.

[Foy]

Hello Mel-

It has long been my opinion, regularly expressed herein, that adding distance to a trip to avoid weather has its own hazards and those hazards may be equal to or greater than the potential hazards one is trying to avoid. This is simply due to the fact that every mile traveled on the highway brings a statistical risk of problems, and the more of those miles which traverse congested terrains the greater the statistical risk brought on.

There is certainly the chance of snow and ice in the Cascades, the Rockies, and the Appalachians, but particularly in November, it's likely those events will be brief in duration and not severe. I wouldn't add hundreds of miles on California freeways to my trip in order to avoid the mere potential of bad weather.

Foy

[PNW Judy]

Check out this discussion and the links in it to learn all you need to know about driving safe in the winter, including snow and mountains. And enjoy the trip. Do you have any other questions/concerns we could help you with?