I80 Winter driving

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by jody_wy

got thru finals week in Laramie once the end of May and had to sopend two more days in town.... there were semis lining alot of the streets off ot intersate exits. but that was one wet heavy spring storm

Exactly Jody, it happens periodically, but some folks would have us believe that it happens every day from October to June, every year. It's one thing to warn a person and yet another to drill it in to them over and over and over and over.

[stevezeva]

Well, from everything I've been reading in this thread, this may one monumental trip for me! I'm coming from Tallahassee, Florida. You maybe asking yourselves; "Why in the hell are you moving to Boise?" It's spelled: J-O-B. I don't know what I'll be driving, it will be either a 17-ft or 20-ft Uhaul & towing my car on an auto transport. I consider myself a cautious driver, and I have driven in snow (I lived the previous three years in Pennsylvania) but that obviously doesn't prepare me for the driving across Wyoming on I-80. I knew this was going to be a long haul (over 2,400 miles from Tallahassee to Boise), but I don't think I fully appreciated what it's going to take getting across the Rockies until I happened across this forum and this thread, hence my question earlier. I've been up on the WYDOT page and looked at every one of the web cam images listed at least 2-3 times over the last couple of days. To tell you the honest truth, I'm kind of worried about trying to go the I-80 route. I mean getting caught somewhere without a hotel room because they're already booked because of the weather is NOT something I even want to even think about. Am I being too anxious about this? My initial plans were to leave here on the 22nd of March so I could arrive in Boise on April 1st or thereabouts. Should I allow for more time?

[ElkHunter]

I think you are, but I guess some folks want you to. That's why I mentioned to keep an eye on txt messages from 511 Notify and also, stop early. The Highway patrol does a great job of shutting down the road at a place that can handle the travelers. Well, it has been my experience that they do. If you encounter weather that you are not comfortable with, stop. Don't wait for the highway patrol to close the road. I have been stranded in a small town with no motel, but it wasn't along the interstates.

There is a better than average chance to that you won't even have any problems. Just know that it is possible.

With a UHaul truck, pay close attention to wind warnings.

[WyoNewk]

Steve,
I've lived in Wyoming for 40+ years and have never considered winter traveling here any worse than across other parts of the northern U.S. That's strictly opinion, but it comes from years of experience. I was raised near I-80 in Iowa, and my sister and her husband still farm along I-80 in western Iowa. Compared to there, I'll take my chances in Wyoming. They get ice storms! (Freezing rain and sleet.) I can recall as a teen, driving on straight rural roads and, just for the heck of it and because I was a teen, cranking the steering wheel all the way one direction and then the other and back without it affecting my track. THAT is black ice! That kind of road condition occurs throughout the midwest regularly, but in Wyoming it's very, very rare. (I've never seen it.)

That said, towing on slick roads with strong winds in a light, high profile vehicle is not a good situation. I wouldn't worry about it for now, but do check the weather along your route -- not just across Wyoming but along any route that can have winter weather. It's that toad that can get you into trouble quick. A little fishtail without it can usually be quickly corrected, but when you're towing anything behind, you can instantly learn firsthand about jackknifing. Just be very cautious when on slick roads, and if strong winds are also present, take a break.

I travel 3000 miles a month in NE Wyoming. We don't get quite the wind here that they do across southern Wyoming, but it's comparable, and it's a rare day when I decide to stay home due to bad roads. The last time I was stranded out of town was 15+ years ago, and that was in South Dakota.

We're Denver Bronco fans here, and when my kids were young we had season tickets to their games from the early '80s until the early '90s. We traveled 700 miles (round trip) to all the home games those years, and only once were we unable to attend a game due to road closure. (It wasn't snowing and the 120 miles we'd been over were fine, and from what we could see ahead the road was clear, but this was south of Douglas where winds are as bad as anywhere in the state, so I'd guess there was blowing snow and/or drifting or black ice ahead.) That was the odd time that we attempted to drive down on game day. We waited a couple hours, until going forward would have meant missing the first half, then gave up and returned home. That was once out of probably 80 games and maybe 20-25 "winter" games.

This is all to back up my prediction that you'll sail right across the Wyoming portion of I-80 with no real weather problems. That's far from a certainty, but (if I was a gambler) it's where I'd put even money. Plan your trip with a few extra days scheduled for waiting out possible storms and you should be fine.

[Wardendresden]

Originally Posted by stevezeva

Well, from everything I've been reading in this thread, this may one monumental trip for me! I'm coming from Tallahassee, Florida. You maybe asking yourselves; "Why in the hell are you moving to Boise?" It's spelled: J-O-B. I don't know what I'll be driving, it will be either a 17-ft or 20-ft Uhaul & towing my car on an auto transport. I consider myself a cautious driver, and I have driven in snow (I lived the previous three years in Pennsylvania) but that obviously doesn't prepare me for the driving across Wyoming on I-80. I knew this was going to be a long haul (over 2,400 miles from Tallahassee to Boise), but I don't think I fully appreciated what it's going to take getting across the Rockies until I happened across this forum and this thread, hence my question earlier. I've been up on the WYDOT page and looked at every one of the web cam images listed at least 2-3 times over the last couple of days. To tell you the honest truth, I'm kind of worried about trying to go the I-80 route. I mean getting caught somewhere without a hotel room because they're already booked because of the weather is NOT something I even want to even think about. Am I being too anxious about this? My initial plans were to leave here on the 22nd of March so I could arrive in Boise on April 1st or thereabouts. Should I allow for more time?

Your other choice for getting to Boise would be across I-70, and that is right through the middle of the Rockies at altitudes over 9000 feet with a loaded U-Haul where the up mountain speeds might be 20 miles per hour tops, and the downhill speeds would be---well, lordy, you better have really good brakes and hope that there is no ice or snow!!!. They don't have all those truck "run away truck ramps" on I-70 for no reason!!!

Only other route, much longer and more expensive would be across Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and into Nevada to go up I-15 to I-84. Even those routes are subject to an occasional late winter storm, particularly once you get into Oklahoma.

I think you've picked the best route.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

(snip)THAT is black ice! That kind of road condition occurs throughout the midwest regularly, but in Wyoming it's very, very rare. (I've never seen it.)

For somebody who's been in Wyoming for 40 years ... and claims to have never seen black ice around here ... with all the trips to see the 'ball games down in Denver

this is absolutely astounding information.

I've encountered it frequently in the last 14 years along I-80, I-25, and the roads to Lander, Cody, Pinedale, and over by Gillette, ever since I moved to my Wyoming ranch.

Even the WYDOT road report I posted earlier in this thread for this morning's road conditions advised black ice conditions around Wamsutter and Cheyenne on I-80. The stretch from exit 377 (by the TA truckstop) to Cheyenne is particularly important to me because that's the exit that I take to access I-80 if I'm headed to town or to I-25. My wife drives it every day to work, and it's one of the reasons why I got her into AWD cars rather than the pick-up trucks she was driving previously ... she had numerous times in the first years we were here when it was prudent to chain up her truck with the radial cable chains because the roads were so icy. Black ice. As well, I've had numerous episodes with black ice heading from home to Pine Bluffs and into NE on I-80 or Hwy 30.

While we may not have the severity of the sleet storms that you've seen back in the mid-west, we certainly have freezing rain conditions present here in the late fall and springtime weather patterns. As a pilot, this has been an issue that's come up a fair number of times for me where I base my airplane locally; since I've not got the equipment to fly into known icing conditions, I've had to adjust my flight schedule. And you haven't seen real fun in Wyoming until you're on a short and narrow runway with zero braking due to the icy surfaces left from these freezing rain episodes ... I have, and I've done a go-around and departed to Cheyenne for better options when that happened.

To claim that the winds in NE Wyoming are comparable to what frequently presents in SE Wyoming is beyond the pale. And the area around Wamsutter is famed for high winds and vehicles blown off the road. Anybody can look up the wind advisories, the AWOS reports, the local weather reports, the multitude of wind velocity reporting stations on WeatherSpark, and the wind energy density charts for the state of Wyoming. This has been frequently discussed in the Wyoming forum and it's not contestable ... SE Wyoming and the corridor along I-80 is famous for high winds advisories, no light trailers notices. And that's along with the I-25 corridor in the Cheyenne area from the ridge to the south all the way up past Glendo. You've even got highway signage and windsocks along I-25 in that area advising that strong wind gusts are there.

I'm not trying to claim "doom and gloom" at every turn on this thread, but really ... to claim 40 years of driving in Wyoming and not seeing black ice or advisories for it on the major roads is ludicrous and misleading. It does present, it's common, it's a common cause for accidents along the roads every time it forms, and it's the reason why WYHP closes the roads from time to time.

What do I have to do to see some accurate weather & road conditions reported in this thread instead of this nonsense? Do we have to resort to posting the WYDOT road conditions and the weather reports everyday?

Here's this evening's report for I-80 from the WYDOT site: (advisory black ice emphasis mine in red)

Laramie

Between Exit 279, Cooper Cove Rd and Laramie

Slick in Spots with Blowing Snow

Black Ice

Feb 24, 2013 09:09 pm

Cheyenne

Between Exit 335, Buford and Exit 348, Otto Rd

Slick in Spots with Blowing Snow

Black Ice

Between Exit 348, Otto Rd and Cheyenne

Slick in Spots

Black Ice

Between Cheyenne and Exit 377, WY 217

Slick with Blowing Snow

Black Ice

Elk Mountain

Between Exit 235, Walcott Jct and Exit 255, WY 72

Black Ice

Feb 24, 2013 09:32 pm

Elk Mountain

Between Exit 255, WY 72 and Exit 267, Wagonhound Rd

Black Ice "

These I-80 areas are on the plains to the East of Cheyenne and up over the Veedauwoo pass area to Laramie and the very violent weather area around Elk Mountain. Please note that there isn't a snowstorm in progress at this time; the front passed through earlier today and left a couple inches of fairly dry powder snow without much moisture content. Sunshine and fair winds dissipated much of the snow off the highways, looking at the road cameras ... but icing conditions prevailed in some areas.

My wife went to church earlier today when the snow flurries around our ranch were minimal and the sunshine was trying to peek through the indefinite cloud layer. 5 miles West from our place it turned into a real blizzard with extremely icy conditions. We'd planned on going to town today for shopping, but she came home midday and reported that the road conditons from Archer to I-80 exit 377 were terrible and not worth dealing with ... and she grew up in Wisconsin (learned to drive there), which isn't famous for dry roads in the winter.

We've all pointed out that the weather in March is "a crapshoot". It could be entirely without any adverse effect, it could be a monster. One needs to check the road reports and weather forecasts for the area and be prepared for the adverse conditions that may present. As mentioned by others, it's better to get off the road before conditions get really ugly, and it has the advantage of the potential of finding lodging and a reasonable circumstance to wait out the conditions.

PS: just in case somebody thinks that black ice doesn't occur and get reported in other places around WY, I note the following WYDOT reports around the state this evening ...

WY 72

Elk Mountain

Between I-80 and Hanna Jct

Black Ice

Feb 24, 2013 09:32

WY 114

Lovell

Between Garland and Deaver

Black Ice

WY 220

Casper

Between Pathfinder Rd and Alcova

Black Ice

Casper

Between Alcova and WY 487

Black Ice

Casper

Between WY 487 and Casper

Black Ice

US 18

Newcastle

Between Mule Creek Jct and the South Dakota State Line

Black Ice

Feb 24, 2013 08:11

That's a wide range of the state, from the North Central to North East to Central Wyoming, all getting enough black ice formation to warrant a WYDOT advisory.

And here's what a "no light trailer" advisory looks like .... and, yes, you'll see these posted for I-80 when conditions there warrant (such as wind gusts in excess of 50 mph, not uncommon in the winter months):

US 212

Cody

Between Mile Marker 4.5, Westbound Closure Gate and WY 296

No Light Trailers

Feb 24, 2013 09:31 pm

[WyoNewk]

Hi Sunsprit. I figured I'd be hearing from you.

I admit to having picked the wrong word in "comparable". Maybe "relatable" would be better. I can relate. We do get some strong winds in Gillette. I think I recall you posting once that you got a damaged windshield or paint from blowing sand near here. (Yes?) I know what strong winds are like, and I've spent enough time in Cheyenne and Laramie to know that your winds are stronger than my winds. (That's a good thing as far as I'm concerned!)

My wife is from Medford, Oregon, which basically sits in a hole with mountains around it. Before she moved here I told her we got a lot of wind. She said she liked the wind. She liked it because to her "wind" was that gentle, cooling breeze that she felt now and then. THAT does not compare. She could not relate.

As for the black ice comments, I stand by what I said. "That kind of road condition occurs throughout the midwest regularly, but in Wyoming it's very, very rare. (I've never seen it.)"

Sure, we get "black ice" here, but I can't recall ever, in Wyoming, seeing the clear sheet ice that forms from freezing rain and sleet, and that's my point. (I think it's still called black ice.) Yes, our standard variety can be slick and it can lead to accidents. I've been on it regularly, this year, every year. I think the main reason it's so dangerous is because it can be nearly invisible. On a trip to Sheridan a month or so ago I was speeding along at my usual 75 mph in cruise control. Heading up a relatively steep hill just south of Sheridan my rear end (rear wheel drive pickup) got squirrelly. A little early morning fog had apparently decided to adhere to the pavement -- black ice. I killed cruise control and slowed to 40 or 50, being careful not to use too much throttle up the next few hills. No problem.

Had that been a half inch of sheet ice from recent freezing rain, it would still have been "black ice" but not the same kind. I'd have not been on the road or would have been inching along with one set of wheels in the grass.

I'm also not saying you haven't seen the kind of clear black ice in Wyoming that I'm referring to. Heck, if you see it every day that's fine with me. My statements were honest and from my experience, not yours. And you may have noticed that I stated it was my OPINION that winter traveling in Wyoming is no worse than across other parts of the northern U.S. As such, I'll stick to that too.

Talking about the weather on this board isn't like talking about it anywhere else! LOL

[ElkHunter]

Hopefully the op has got hs answers. I appologize for this thread getting so far off topic.

Thread is closed.