Drive from Los Angeles to Montreal in the winter?

[Dd714]

Originally Posted by marmac

How often are segments of freeways shut down for----- tornados,hurricanes, earthquakes ?

Many segments of freeways do get shut down due to visibility conditions in winter.

If one is on a tight,set, schedule that would be a problem.

If it's shut down then her safety concerns are addressed for her. Hence my simple recommendation that I will again repeat - watch the weather channel carefully and plan the route accordingly. She is planning point A to point B over a 3,000 mile trek, she has almost infinite route possibilities and alternatives even with a tight schedule. Maybe however she needs to add a day as cushion. 3 days is alot of long driving days.

[jtur88]

There is rarely a lot of snow before Christmas, even in Montreal. Enter Canada at Detroit, the Canadians know how to keep their highways driveable in winter, and you don't want to be east of Lake Ontario or Lake Erie, where you can be exposed to very heavy lake-effect snow very early in the season. You have a pretty good chance of making the entire trip without encountering any snowy driving at all, but you could pass through areas where it has snowed, and the roads may have slippery spots on them. There's a much greater risk of snow on the return trip, so remember that snowstorms move from west to east, and if it starts to snow, just hit a motel and in 12 hours it will be over and moving away behind you.

Be sure to cross the Rockies as far south as possible (Tucson to El Paso) and don't head north until the Mississippi River, especially on the later return trip. You might be OK crossing at Memphis, but there can be icy roads that early anywhere in north Texas or Arkansas.

Make sure your tires are all-season, with the letters M+S on the sidewalls, they will give you pretty good traction in a few inches of snow. The worst danger is not that you don't know how to drive in the snow, but the other drivers THINK they know how to drive in the snow. Give everybody plenty of room in wintery driving conditions, and don't get impatient and try to go faster than the flow of traffic in the slow lanes. Don't even think about the fast lanes, where the truckers keep right on going 70 in a spray of slush. In Quebec, proper dedicated snow tires (not just M+S) on drive wheels are mandatory after 12/15 ($300 fine), but enforced only on cars with Quebec plates, although if you're in an accident, you may be held liable on that basis. Remember, though, that EVERY other car in Quebec has much better traction than you do, so you can't do what everyone else is doing, no matter how skilled you are.

Remember that the further north you go, the fewer hours of daylight you will have. When you are in Montreal, the sun will rise at 7:30 and set at 4:15. It's much harder to drive in the dark when your windshield and headlights covered with frost and road crap and constant salt-slush spray and street lights form halos on your windshield. If you want to practice beforehand for Montreal drivers, try Italy.

Finally, Spanish is no help at all in Quebec, they don't understand a word of that.

[ppmov]

lol.

yes we all have passports, and secondly, i speak french fluently.

[Acajack]

Another piece of advice...

In the event that you end up with a snowstorm along your route, it sometimes might be best to wait it out a few hours instead of trying to slog through it.

This is especially true in the northern states and Ontario and Quebec.

Often, stopping for 1-2-3 hours and letting the storm pass is the difference between driving on six inches snow with near zero visibility and driving on wet pavement with good visibility.

The road crews on the main highways are generally really good. You just have to give them time to do their work and you will be on your way with much less stress.