roads in winter in WY?? (Casper, Laramie: how much, live in, dangerous)

[pbunyan81]

What are the roads like in the winter?? Specifically the Casper area?? Do they salt the roads heavily?? I have a Camaro but also have a car for the winter. I would be willing to get snow tires if its not too hilly. I realize WY is in the Rockies.

Thanks.

[ElkHunter]

Casper is kind of rolling hills. Nothing steep. Most everybody gets by with All Weather tires. They're a little more aggressive then street tires, but not near as aggressive as snow tires.

Can't tell you if Casper salts their streets or not. I go through there a lot but I'm on the interstate. If I get off, it's just to get fuel and go on my merry way.

I have friends that live in Casper and there was only a couple days last winter that they couldn't get to work. By mid day, the roads were bladed and they could have went to work, but really, what can you accomplish in just an afternoon.

[sunsprit]

There's very little "salt" on the roads like lower elevation wet climate states use. You will not see rusted out cars here like the New England states, for example.

There is a lot of snowmelt and evaporation due to the intensity of the sunshine at the altitude.

"salt" on the road would promote melting and re-freezing at a lower temperature, which would assist the formation of hard "black ice" on the road, which is a greater hazard than snow build-up that can be plowed off.

Casper area is mostly gently rolling hills, so it's pretty accessible through the winter months ... although I-25 can be shut down now and then due to heavy snowfall/low visibility/ice until a storm front passes and the roads are cleared.

[ElkHunter]

You know, Sunsprit brought up a good point that I keep failing to tell people.

Several years ago, there was a 110 car pile up in California, about 40 miles north of Grapevine. It was caused by the wind creating a dust storm and drivers didn't slow down, but the guy in front did. They stacked up like dominoes and several people were killed. Being California, the people sue'd the state because the Highway Patrol should have closed the road if it was so dangerous.

Unfortunately, that scared a lot of states. It used to be in Wyoming, that they would only close the road if it just wasn't passable. Now they seem to close it at the drop of a hat. Several times I've been the last person past the gate and they closed it while I could still see it in my rear view mirror. And I didn't have any problems. Course, could only run about 40 because of visibility but wasn't anything serious. But they will, they'll close it on the side of caution. Probably a good thing.

But here, when they close the interstate, we just take the old highway. haha

[jazzlover]

It's hard to generalize about road conditions in a state as big as Wyoming. My experience in the state (and I've done a fair amount of winter driving) is that the road surfaces themselves are generally less slick in snowstorms than are the roads in some places (Colorado, for example). I have had to use a 4WD less in winter travel in Wyoming than I did when I lived in Colorado. For me, the bigger problem in Wyoming is just poor visibility during blizzards. Poor visibility and drifting seems to cause more road closures in Wyoming than poor general road conditions in bad weather. Because of the long distances between towns, it is essential to carry a winter survival kit in your car, just in case one of those pesky blizzards blows up and strands you somewhere.

As to salt, Wyoming has followed the lead of a lot of states in substituting magnesium chloride for regular road salt. "Mag chloride" is supposedly less prone to rust vehicles than regular salt, but it is still a salt and can cause corrosion problems. Unlike regular salt, it is somewhat "oily" in consistency and can be hard to wash off. Mag chloride is popular because it can actually be sprayed on a road before a storm hits. It also will melt ice at a lower temperature than regular salt.

[Earniefan]

LOL, Salt the roads, that's a good one! You'll laugh with me when you've lived here for awhile. I asked the same thing when I first moved out here. Thanx for the funny. BTW, if you ever go to Laramie for any reason, they only plow the main streets, Third and Grand, no matter how much snow they get.

[ElkHunter]

Here in Sheridan, they do an excellent job of snow removal. They have major roads that they do first or do continuously during the night to keep them open, and once it starts to subside, they start on all the side streets.

After this storm,

//

My street (I'm way off the beaten path) was bladed before 10am.

[StealthRabbit]

the Wind blows a lot of the roads clear

It is common to drive many miles without seeing the actual road surface during ground blizzards.

WYO gets my vote for the best job of marking it's roads with reflectors, and Is really nice now that there is different color left vs. right, (White and Yellow) so... just don't drive between two that are the same color , and you'll probably stay on the road ! My basic rule is, "full throttle" if you can see 4 reflectors ahead, but slow down when you can only see three (harder to interpolate curves ahead).

Roads are generally well plowed when necessary, just watch for areas in crosswinds that drift (bridges and areas with guard rails/ trees). Be cruising pretty fast and drive on the downwind side of the road and you will usually get through the deep stuff (~ 1ft > 18 inches). Driving on the 'thick' side can tend to 'suck' you into the railing (not good).

But... remember where you parked your rig when you are in a windy and icy parking lot. My truck blew sideways on an icy night while I was in using the john out by Rock Springs.

[Cloudfish]

I'll add another little tidbit about winter driving. If you suspect that the road is icy at all ("slick in spots" is a popular title) do NOT use your cruise control--especially on a hilly road. Your vehicle will try to slow down going up the hill, notice this and compensate by trying to accelerate. If you are on ice the wheels very likely will lose traction and you'll end up in the borrow pit.

I learned this the hard way. The result was that I went off the road into the deep snow and endoed (flipped end over end.) Needless to say I'm now very conscious of conditions ahead....

[Earniefan]

A friend of mine told me about his mother using the automatic 4 wheel drive in her truck when it was slick in spots. She hit the slick spot the truck went into four wheel, when she hit dry pavement very quickly again she ended up in the ditch. Something to keep in mind.