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Watch the weather forecasts very closely, both before you leave and during your route. If you have a laptop with wifi, use that; if not use a phone. All states have a toll-free number to call for road conditions.
All of February is still hard winter for I-70, so be sure your car is in good condition with good all-season tires or snow tires and a good battery. It would be wise to also have a pair of tire chains along, especially if you're driving a 2WD car. There are likely to be stretches of the interstate where having chains along is mandatory unless you happen to have a 4WD/All-Wheel-Drive vehicle. That would be most likely over the Rockies west of Denver but can happen anywhere.
Also, pack some winter survival gear. It can get very, very cold and windy. I was headed across South Dakota on I-90 several years ago (in January) when the temps were -30 with wind chills of -60 and my battery froze. Apparently my alternator went out first, or it might have been the frozen battery that caused it to go out. Either way, it happened quickly. I took an exit thinking there was a service station but there wasn't, and the car was dead. Mechanical things are more apt to break in those kinds of temperatures, just when your life can depend on them. Once you get past Grand Junction, CO, the distance between towns can become pretty significant.
Hopefully you'll have warm, sunny days all across the nation, but it's best to plan for the worst. Have warm clothes, blankets, food and water, matches or a lighter along with a few candles, a cell phone, a shovel and a box or two of gravel, sand or kitty litter for extra traction if you get stuck.
If the weather turns sour don't hesitate to stop and get a room for a night or two. If you put off stopping you might not find a room anywhere; in fact, you might spend the night in your car in a ditch.
None of this is meant to scare you. I've traveled across country many times in the dead of winter and seldom had problems. I just want you to prepare for bad weather and bad roads in case you encounter them.
I'll comment on Colorado and Utah here, I live just a bit south of I-70.
The distance between towns in Colorado are significant. Coming in from Kansas, the distances between towns range from 30 to 60 miles. And to Colorado residents, the town of Limon is noted for having hundreds of travelers spend the night there involuntarily. There have been times that I-70 has been shut down eastbound at Limon for as much as two days. The wind really howls out there and I personally have seen snowdrifts exceeding 6 feet.
The snow can certainly stack up in the mountains west of Denver, but the CDot trucks do a great job on maintenance. When you get to Grand Junction (250 miles west of Denver) you'll be a little bit better in the clear weather wise. After being in the high country with elevations ranging up to 11,000 ft. (Eisenhower Tunnel) you are about 4600 ft. when you get to Junction, which has plenty of motels and restaurants if you haven't stayed in Denver already.
Then the towns really separate. Grand Junction to Green River, Utah is 100 miles with only a gas station at Thompson. Green River to Salina, Utah is 110 miles with no services inbetween -period. Salina to the I-70 dead end at I-15 is about an hours drive. A good place to stop and get a bite to eat is Richfield, 25 miles west of Salina. Friendly town and ample accommodations for travelers.
You can get snow on I-15 as far south as Cedar City. But like CDot, Utah's road people do a great job on road maintenance. Cedar City to St. George is about 50 miles, by that time you're in lower climate (2900 ft.) and a tad milder regarding temperatures.
If you have a laptop, check CDot's webcams from time to time. In the high country the conditions can change in no time. Fortunately for the most part most of the mountain towns have ample accomodations, but keep in mind as they are ski towns the prices will be up there.
I never understood the multitude of "I am driving from point X to point Y in winter and need advice" threads that pop up during this season. Thousands of truckers and millions of private vehicles travel these routes every single day of the year, snow or no snow. Is this the first time some of these people have driven in winter time? Does one think the massive interstate trucking industry parks their rigs for 3 months out of the year?
The advice above is all excellent and should be followed, but don't have an ulcer over it. In my opinion the concerns by the OP's on this and the mutltude of other posts started by others are overblown - It's not like you are driving to the north pole, interstates get priority in maintanance - plowing, sanding, and packing. 90% of your route will be likely be snow free and your only concern may be the mountain passes. In those cases the most important advice is very simple - watch the weather forecast for your route a few days in advance and plan your route and detours if needed.
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I never understood the multitude of "I am driving from point X to point Y in winter and need advice" threads that pop up during this season. Thousands of truckers and millions of private vehicles travel these routes every single day of the year, snow or no snow. Is this the first time some of these people have driven in winter time? Does one think the massive interstate trucking industry parks their rigs for 3 months out of the year?
The advice above is all excellent and should be followed, but don't have an ulcer over it. In my opinion the concerns by the OP's on this and the mutltude of other posts started by others are overblown - It's not like you are driving to the north pole, interstates get priority in maintanance - plowing, sanding, and packing. 90% of your route will be likely be snow free and your only concern may be the mountain passes. In those cases the most important advice is very simple - watch the weather forecast for your route a few days in advance and plan your route and detours if needed.
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I'm with you on the first part of your post. "I'm driving from X to Y in the winter time and was wondering what the weather going to be like?" seems like a sort of an unnecessary question. Uh...it's winter...ya know?
On the second part, though, not all states do a good job of plowing and salting the roads. It varies widely from some doing a really good job, to others never leaving the barn.
My question is: "Where in Nevada"? If the OP is going to Reno/Lake Tahoe or somewhere else along the I-80 corridor, I'd recommend taking I-70 West to Kansas City, hop on I-29 North and run that into Iowa where you'll take IA 2 West to Lincoln, NE and then hop onto I-80 West at Lincoln. If that's the case, we've got a different discussion required about Wyoming, Utah and the Sierra Nevada Mountains...
Most important to watch the weather forecasts as well as the road conditions on the days prior to the trip. Your concerns will be twofold: (1) very heavy snowfall predictions, or (2) black ice formation conditions ... along your route of travel.
I've done the I-70 to I-15 trip many times in the last several decades, and I've seen days when the Colorado high country was snowy, but drivable ... and then made it to Cove Fort in Utah, where the local climate can again deliver very hazardous driving conditions. I-15 can be a handful in the remote areas of Utah to Southern Nevada for all but the last few miles into Las Vegas; I've seen times when the roads in this area were shut down for a day or two in the Feb-April time frame.
Similarly, if you are traveling to central/northern Nevada, and I-80 is your route ... winter time driving along those areas with 100 mile stretches of no-services, no motels ... can be challenging. You may encounter ground blizzards of obscuration due to the high winds simply blowing snow around ... and the road may be very difficult to follow, even if it's been recently plowed ahead of you. Typically, this is more challenging to you in a car because you're lower to the ground while the semi-truck drivers have a better view; it's why they may continue at higher speeds while you're grasping for any sign of the road you can possibly see. You will be passed by the truckers in a dense cloud of almost zero visibility for you ... and in the stretches where you can see and have good traction, may not always be able to pass a slower moving truck. It can definitely be very challenging driving conditions, so be prepared to keep tabs on what's ahead and stop earlier than later ... when and where you have the opportunity, as opposed to making it to a town ahead where the road is closed and every available motel is sold out and there's not a lot of places for you to park to wait out the road closure. While this sounds extreme, we see it happen all the time in Eastern Wyoming and it can be a problem all along the route of the plains into Utah for I-80. These adverse conditions can occur along I-70 on the eastern plains of Colorado, too ... and the variability of these situations can be a matter of minutes, hours, or a day or so in duration. A lot of changeability due to the winds and local micro-climate activity ... where it doesn't have to be snowing to be a ground blizzard where you're at. But that blown snow across a road can be the precursor to black ice conditions where the snow is melted and then re-freezes on the roadway to a highly polished slick surface ... which can be very thin and hard to see, but it will adversely affect your traction and directional control.
So, be prepared for adverse driving conditions along the plains as well as the higher elevations. Have a car in good condition for winter travel, and an emergency kit of food/water/adequate clothing. Don't plan on making favorable weather daily mileage/road speeds, nor put yourself in a "gotta be there" time frame. If the weather outlook is favorable for the entire trip, consider yourself lucky and take advantage of the weather window ... but if it's not, consider an appropriate delay for the trip. The key is to be flexible about the conditions ahead and be pro-active rather than being caught out ... and drive appropriate speeds for the conditions that you do encounter.
Most important to watch the weather forecasts as well as the road conditions on the days prior to the trip. Your concerns will be twofold: (1) very heavy snowfall predictions, or (2) black ice formation conditions ... along your route of travel.
I've done the I-70 to I-15 trip many times in the last several decades, and I've seen days when the Colorado high country was snowy, but drivable ... and then made it to Cove Fort in Utah, where the local climate can again deliver very hazardous driving conditions. I-15 can be a handful in the remote areas of Utah to Southern Nevada for all but the last few miles into Las Vegas; I've seen times when the roads in this area were shut down for a day or two in the Feb-April time frame.
Similarly, if you are traveling to central/northern Nevada, and I-80 is your route ... winter time driving along those areas with 100 mile stretches of no-services, no motels ... can be challenging. You may encounter ground blizzards of obscuration due to the high winds simply blowing snow around ... and the road may be very difficult to follow, even if it's been recently plowed ahead of you. Typically, this is more challenging to you in a car because you're lower to the ground while the semi-truck drivers have a better view; it's why they may continue at higher speeds while you're grasping for any sign of the road you can possibly see. You will be passed by the truckers in a dense cloud of almost zero visibility for you ... and in the stretches where you can see and have good traction, may not always be able to pass a slower moving truck. It can definitely be very challenging driving conditions, so be prepared to keep tabs on what's ahead and stop earlier than later ... when and where you have the opportunity, as opposed to making it to a town ahead where the road is closed and every available motel is sold out and there's not a lot of places for you to park to wait out the road closure. While this sounds extreme, we see it happen all the time in Eastern Wyoming and it can be a problem all along the route of the plains into Utah for I-80.
So, be prepared for adverse driving conditions along the plains as well as the higher elevations. Have a car in good condition for winter travel, and an emergency kit of food/water/adequate clothing. Don't plan on making favorable weather daily mileage/road speeds, nor put yourself in a "gotta be there" time frame. If the weather outlook is favorable for the entire trip, consider yourself lucky and take advantage of the weather window ... but if it's not, consider an appropriate delay for the trip. The key is to be flexible about the conditions ahead and be pro-active rather than being caught out ... and drive appropriate speeds for the conditions that you do encounter.
That's all sound advice and your descriptions of conditions is right on the mark.
Like you, I don't suggest setting some arbitrary goal for the day, but would encourage flexibility. By that, I mean be prepared to stop at any time if conditions warrant but, on the other hand, be prepared to haul azz for long periods of time with infrequent, very short stops for necessities if the weather and road conditions are fair. If you're willing, and able, to put the peddle on the floor and keep the left door closed as much as possible, you'll be surprised at how many storms you can outrun.
I'd also mention that there are a lot of "you tube" postings of real world winter driving conditions in the region.
You can google or search them out, or see a very typical video "I-80 Disappears.MOV" B3nj4mlnzV1d30z ... a 44 second glimpse of how the road simply disappears from view in an otherwise clear weather condition driving situation.
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