How bad are "snow showers" on I-80 in Laramie and Rawlins? (Cheyenne: home)

[megsie88]

Hi everyone!
I will be driving from Portland, OR, to Ozark, MO next week, and have been closely watching the weather through the high elevations of Idaho and WY. Almost all of the trip is looking dry, with the exception of a chance for "snow showers" through Rawlins and Laramie. I will be traveling on 80--as of right now, there is only a small chance for these light snow showers, but I'm still apprehensive--can anyone give me an idea of how bad a small amount of snow could be across this route? I'm mainly afraid of the high winds causing white-out conditions.
Thank you for your help!!

[StealthRabbit]

Watch the weather. have a plan B. Usually it will only be Flurries, but WHITE outs occur (often is 4' elevation white out, you can still see the reflectors ahead, but NOT the road). I drive nights for better visibility and less traffic preference, especially during snow.

If coming I-70 (denver) to I-25, then use 287 from Ft Collins to Laramie to avoid Cheyenne and Avoid Sherman Pass

Between Rawlins and Laramie you can find black ice / blowing snow, but often clear and more often VERY windy!

MOST often... you can drive reasonably close to speed limit, (even in light snow, it is crunchy / good traction)
60 mph is a good rate, but DO NOT impede by going too slow!!

[Wyoming_Medic]

Well, currently I80 at the summit is closed, as well as most things around it.

"Snow showers" is kind of a vague term. Just keep an eye on it and plan ahead.

[Brian_M]

And this is one of the more current/up to date places to see actual road conditions:

Wyoming Travel Information Map - Choose Bandwidth

The worst section is Rawlins to Cheyenne, so get off in Rawlins and do a little homework. If it's just a little bad, you can take 30 (more protected, where I80 Should have been routed), if it's Really bad you can look at heading to Casper than down I25, but that has it's own high risk areas.

I wouldn't sweat the weather till 2~3 days ahead of time, just know your alternate routes ahead of time.

[sunsprit]

You need to utilize all of the resources available to make your decisions.

For Wyoming, use the wydot maps and route planners.

Be aware that area wide storm fronts can have a larger affect on the roads than just looking at a snapshot of "Rawlins-Laramie" type forecasts.

For example, if you pull up the wydot road conditions right now, you'd see that not only is I-80 closed over the pass between Laramie to Cheyenne, but that the entire route of I-80 from the Evanston area all the way to Pine Bluffs (at the Nebraska border) is heavily impacted with slick driving conditions. That includes "black ice" East from Cheyenne to the NE border.

Suggesting here that it's appropriate to "drive reasonably close to the speed limit" in such conditions is, IMO, the height of stupidity. It's not prudent, nor is a "60 mph" a "good rate" during such events. It is prudent for you to adjust your driving speed ... even if it's slower than that prevailing of other drivers ... to what is within your skillset, comfort zone, and equipment abilities for the conditions that present when and where you are driving the roads. If you aren't able to keep up with traffic, so be it. Traffic will just have to deal with it. Of course, it is courteous and safer on your part to stay as far to the right as possible and yield to those who can and will drive faster than you. There will always be somebody who can and will do so, like the "expert professional driver with 3 million miles under his belt" who posted above.

I've had more than a few trips SLC-Cheyenne over the past few decades where I was thankful to make the Rawlins-Laramie stretch in 4 hours with an appropriately equipped winter AWD car as I slowly passed other vehicles on the road. Sometimes, this area can be particularly treacherous, and it's not just the "road surface" conditions that present that will be the problem. Limited visibility through the storm and visibility through the slop kicked up by other traffic (especially semi's) can be as much, if not more, than the hazard of the slick road surface, if you can even see the road at all.

Be prepared for alternative routes for your Eastward progress. Depending upon the weather/road conditions, you may find it prudent to take a diversion that will add some miles to your trip, but present better driving conditions for your safe travels. Don't forget that you have the option to select a good location to stop ... sooner than later ... should the conditions warrant that you get off the road for awhile.

PS: if you haven't already done so, you may find it enlightening to search You Tube for videos of "wyoming winter driving". You'll get a better idea of the challenges that present here in those "winter flurries" on snowpacked or snow drifted roads.

PPS: just for some additional perspective on how badly Wyoming roads can be impacted during these events ... Mrs Sun just walked in the door at home. We're 20-odd miles East of Cheyenne on I-80 and then south almost to the Colorado border. She left work early from downtown Cheyenne at 3:30 PM ... that's 1 1/2 HOURS to get home tonight. That "black ice" WYDOT reported on I-80 was an almost continuous layer from East Cheyenne to the exit off of I-80. And yes, she's a highly experienced Rocky Mountain winter driver in an appropriately equipped 2007 Subaru OBW with excellent new winter tires on it.

PPPS: don't forget that the storm fronts don't observe "state borders". I-80's road surface problems don't stop at Pine Bluffs as you continue to head East tonight.

[megsie88]

Thank you very much, everyone!! I know that currently, y'all have gotten a pretty good storm--I'm hopeful it will have cleared up by next week. I am checking weather forecasts daily, and will make sure to be well-equipped in case I need to stop for awhile. The second leg of my trip is from SLC to Cheyenne, and is my "shortest" leg, so I will be able to stop as many times as needed to be safe. Black ice scares the crap outta me, and I will most definitely be driving SLOW.
I appreciate all the extra advice regarding some other sites to check for road conditions--that is exactly what I needed, and why I love city-data forums!!
Thanks again!!

[some boring guy]

The tricky thing is you may encounter sunshine & blue skies in either Rawlins or Laramie, then find yourself in blizzard conditions in between. Things can change pretty quickly out there and that stretch around Elk Mountain in particular can be rough. So definitely check forecasts, but also check here for road conditions and webcams for info on those 'in between' stretches... WYDOT Travel Information Service (Laramie)

[sunsprit]

as some boring guy observes ... localized conditions enroute can be highly variable.

even a minimal snow flurry can cause adverse road conditions with slick surfaces and limited visibility.

for example, the other night when it took Mrs Sun 1 1/2 hours to drive home, the total snowfall was less than 1/2" along most of the route. But that was enough moisture to hit the previously clear road surface, melt, and then quickly refreeze in the sub-freezing winds to a thin "black ice" surface.

PS: personally, I don't like to drive this condition at night when you can't see the road surface very far ahead. Given the vagaries of the conditions/daytime sunshine on the surfaces, you can easily be taken by surprise when traveling at a prudent speed on a surface and then find yourself traversing a very slick spot where directional control may be lost. I've spent a lot of time through the years assisting other motorists who were taken by surprise in these conditions and had an off-road excursion. Fortunately, most were only embarrassed or inconvenienced by the diversion, and rarely were there any injuries ... but then again, I've seen more than a few result in injuries requiring 1st responders to the accident scene.

As I've posted on other threads here on C-D, I have a number of neighbors who are very busy folk in our Wyoming winters. 2 are highway patrolmen, 2 are deputies, 1 is a dispatcher and they all get a lot of overtime hours each winter

... and another is a large family group that specializes in accident clean-ups, particularly crashed semi-trailer content clean ups. They're on-call 24/7 to quickly bring in the manpower and equipment (if needed) to pick up the spilled contents from the scene and/or to empty the trailers so that the tow truck operators can get the trailers righted/removed. With nearby I-25 and I-80 major transport corridors, these guys make a very good living each year. They're able to rapidly mobilize 50 or more folk (as needed) to respond to accident scenes where the hand labor is the only practical way to get the clean-up task done in a timely manner.

[GregW]

OP - If I were making this trip I would head South to I-40 and take it East across New Mexico (or I-10 if northern NM was blocked) then head northeast depending on the weather. I am a good winter driver as I live in New Hampshire but I would gladly trade the extra distance and time to avoid Black Ice. You can go from pilot to passenger in an instant on that stuff.


Good luck on your trip and please let us know how it went.