I-80 in November (Cheyenne, Laramie, Rock Springs: motel, live, safe)

[HIgirl]

Hi there -

We will be taking a cross country trip the second week of November starting in Seattle and ending in OH. We will be crossing your beautiful country via I-80. However, a friend of mine told me to be careful becuase it is really flat in that area, it gets really windy and he has seen semis blow off of the highway as a result.

Is this true? Is it a bad idea to go thru I-80 at that time of year? Any info would be much appreciated.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by HIgirl

Hi there -

We will be taking a cross country trip the second week of November starting in Seattle and ending in OH. We will be crossing your beautiful country via I-80. However, a friend of mine told me to be careful becuase it is really flat in that area, it gets really windy and he has seen semis blow off of the highway as a result.

Is this true? Is it a bad idea to go thru I-80 at that time of year? Any info would be much appreciated.

Yes. it's true. I-80 can be the most trecherous portion of the nation. Often has 60 and 70 mph winds causing white out conditions. Will flip a semi with no problem. I've traveled that road and my brother walked 15 feet in front of my pickup so he could feel where the road was. About 15 minutes and we'd switch so the other person didn't freeze.

But. It's not like that so much anymore. If the road is going to be doing that, the Wyoming Highway patrol will shut down the road. They've done a really good job of it. Matter of fact, I personnally think they have been too cautions over the last couple of years. Interstate shut down, I took the old road and had absolutley no problem. But it's their call.

Just allow yourself enough time and patients to be stuck in a town for a day. Hey, kick back, have a nice supper, have a drink and thank God that your not out stuck on the highway. You'll do fine.

I-80 is the heaviest traveled northern route for truckers. As such, the snow plows and emergency folks do extra duty to make sure it's open.

[jazzlover]

You can just about expect wind somewhere along I-80 in Wyoming, no matter what. It's just a question of how hard it's blowing, and if there's snow with it. In November, the roads could be dry as a bone, or there could be a blizzard to beat hell. Just check the weather ahead of time.

[Earniefan]

If it gets icy and windy and your in white-out conditions try to keep moving and get off at an exit, go down the road a ways and find a safe place to pull over. Do not pull over on the interstate, and definately don't get out of your car. The semi's can see above the white out's usually and will keep going, but they're human and lose the road sometimes while doing this will ram into the back off you. Just be sensible and you'll be fine. There are web cams across the state. If you go onto wydot online you'll be able to access these. Check ahead to see if the roads are clear before you head out. This won't guarantee that they'll stay that way, but it will give you a better chance. November isn't usually that bad. Elk mountain around Arlington's camera and the summit on the east side of Laramie are the worst spots in the winter. It can be fine everywhere else and really crappy through these places. Keep in mind there can be blowing snow even if it's not snowing, so don't think you're good to go just because there's no snow forcasted. In case you hit bad weather around Elk Mountain Saratoga has a great lodge the Saratoga Inn, the turn off to get here is at Walcott Junction. It's a ways down the highway just keep going you'll hit it. No one would know about a town like this unless they were told. So good luck to you and let us know how your trip goes. Oh yeah you can also call 1-888-wyoroads, to see what's open or blowing snow or whatever.

[sunsprit]

Overall, the stretch from Cheyenne to Rock Springs is probably the worst for exposure to the snowstorms and bad road condition possibility.

So, if you're traveling along in that area and make it to one of the towns along the way, say Rawlins .... and bad weather is moving in, but not too bad yet ... get a motel room and stay put until the situation clears up.

It's a lot better to stop early than to try to deal with bad road conditions on the passes between the towns, which are about 100 miles apart.

Of course, your trip may be completely without any of these bad road conditions and you'll wonder what all the concern was about .... just be prepared for the possibility of a storm front moving through.

[HIgirl]

Thanks for all of the info/advice. However, I must admit, I am a bit worried. Being that we have never dealt with snow in the past (or really cold conditions), I am thinking that we should find a different route and not take I-80. All in all, is this stretch of highway worth the drive? Is it pretty at that time of year?

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by HIgirl

Thanks for all of the info/advice. However, I must admit, I am a bit worried. Being that we have never dealt with snow in the past (or really cold conditions), I am thinking that we should find a different route and not take I-80. All in all, is this stretch of highway worth the drive? Is it pretty at that time of year?

30 degrees below zero, winds at 70+ mph, cap rock high desert, rolling hills.

It will probably be the most beautiful trip you've ever made. God didn't make much else that was better.

In all honesty, you will probably not encounter anything like we've mentioned. But you could. So just be prepared in case of an emergency. Pack some warm clothes in case you get stranded.

Think about it, we live here every day and we survive just fine. But we are careful of what we do when traveling. You'll be fine.

By the way, Wyoming is probably the only place that if you get stranded, somebody will stop and help you out.

[wyolady]

They shut down I-80 when it's treacherous? I had a friend and her son killed in the 33-car pile-up a few years between Laramie and Cheyenne when it was so foggy - and many people on the road ahead had called the State P asking why the road was still open.

[jazzlover]

Your Interstate alternatives in winter are I-70 through Colorado--no picnic in bad weather, plus a jillion Front Range lunkheads who think they know how to drive in snow, and another jillion pilgrims on the road, neither group with much of a clue about winter driving. (Sorry about the vitriolic comment, but I've spent nearly 40 years driving mountain roads in New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming--sometimes under horrid winter conditions. I worry a lot more about the people who don't know how to drive in such conditions than I do about the road condtions themselves.) I-90 through Montana and northern Wyoming has less traffic, but can blizzard, too (and can have a lot colder temperatures than the I-80 corridor). From Seattle to Ohio, I'd probably take I-90 and drop south somewhere in the Midwest.

[MRVphotog]

The worst stretch is going around Elk Mtn between Laramie and Rawlins. The second week in November leaves a good chance that the road will be fine.