Driving from NYS to Oregon (in early March)--am I going to die an icy death?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My wife got a job in Oregon, so we’re moving. Her job starts March 19. We’re planning to leave here (Hudson Valley) by 3/4, visit family in PA for a few days, etc., giving us plenty of time to get out there (without driving marathons … we’re taking 2 cars) and unpack the POD when it shows up (probably 3/17) before she has to start work.

We planned to drive the northern route (i.e., mostly I-90 in the West), and so my parents are certain that we will die in a snowbank somewhere. Are we insane for driving the northern route? Is I-90 impassible until May? Should I really, really, really reconsider driving a more southerly route? (I’ve driven cross-country before, so the sight-seeing is less critical here.)

One wrinkle there is that we can’t go through California (we’re transporting a ferret), and so even if we take the Southern route, we’d have to snake our way up through Nevada into southeastern Oregon … and I don’t know enough about the geography/weather there to say if that would be fine or if we’re still going through impassible snowy mountains.

2

Mr. 'addi and I drove your route in November (1986) and January (1992). Our mover took I-80 and got stuck for a couple of days. We sailed across the country on I-90. You might want chains for some of the passes in Montana, though.

You do not want to take secondary roads through Nevada and Oregon that time of year. Stick to the interstates. I like I-90 better than I-70 or I-80. YMMV. Heh.

3

Be sure you take an emergency kit with you. As in food, water, other supplies you might need if a blizzard hits unexpectedly.

4

“Southerly” doesn’t really matter much in March unless you’re willing to drop down all the way to I-40. Any of I-70, I-80, or I-90 can be a crapshoot at that time of year. Remember that the altitude can have as much or more impact on snow as the latitude. I-80 in SE Wyoming is often closed due to weather, I-90 goes through the mountains in Montana, and I-70, frankly, is too far out of the way. But by all means, stick to the interstates. You could need tire chains for any of these routes.

If it were me, I’d plan on I-80 and I-84, but then watch the weather starting a few days before and decide at the last minute.

You absolutely do want to do the whole “safety kit” thing, which I’m sure is documented elsewhere here… blankets, food and water, flashlights, etc… There are parts of these roads that are in the middle of nowhere.

5

For southerly, I had been thinking 1-70 from Pittsburgh to St. Louis (plenty of chance to get snowbound there, of course … people just got stranded on I-78 in Pa. this last storm!), then I-44 to OKC, then I-40 until I had to cut up through Nevada. But I was most concerned with the trek through Nevada and Oregon, as I don’t know if I’ll still end up getting screwed in the mountains there instead of up in Idaho.

And, yes, good points, all, about the emergency kits. We do keep them, but the 2 feet of snow on the ground outside is a good reminder that those be beefed up.

6

I’m just not sure it’s worth the detour, unless you KNOW that the more northerly routes are going to be screwed up. You could drop all the way to I-40 and then end up hitting snow in Flagstaff, while I-80 ends up being OK. I don’t think taking the two-lane roads in Nevada is a good idea at all… they don’t call US50 out there the “Loneliest Highway in America” for nothing. Also, all other things being equal, you could easily be adding two days to your drive going that route. I still think 80/84 is your best bet.

7

Ah, what is your Oregon destination?

8

I can’t speak for the rest of the country, as it’s apparently undergoing a new ice age, but here in Oregon you probably won’t have any trouble. We’ve been having a depressingly mild winter- only two decent snows, and neither one was more than two inches. Mostly we’ve just been getting rain.

Lots and lots of rain.

This is the wettest damn desert I’ve ever seen.

9

Portland.

10

I did RI to CA in December '00 the northerly route. (With oldscratch as my copilot… anyone remember those days!) We were incredibly stupid, and incredibly lucky, and only hit snow once, in Wyoming. We had no tire chains, no money really, all my worldly possessions in my VW Golf. Bring chains, emergency kits, etc. etc. and enjoy!

11

Well, if you take 90 through Montana to Portland, you will have to traverse:

Bozeman Pass (Montana)

Lookout Pass (Montana-Idaho border)

and Fourth of July Pass (Idaho). If you didn’t drop down on I-82 to I-84 to travel along the Columbia through The Dalles to Portland – though I can’t imagine you wouldn’t – you would also have to traverse the Cascade Mountain Range. (The Columbia River Gorge cuts through it, so if you take I-84 along the river, you don’t have to go over the mountains again.)

This is certainly the prettiest of the possible routes, and possibly the shortest. It’s also the only one I can talk about with some authority, but I know it very, very well, having made the trip from Montana to Washington or Oregon dozens of times.

Weather? Who knows? March can be perfectly fine, not a drop of snow on the ground, or March can be suck-tastic blizzards. Lookout Pass is a bitch in bad weather.

But the truth is that the time of year is not going to change – March is when you’re going – and you have to get over the Rockies and then over or through the Cascades somehow, because Portland’s on the other side, and there’s no guarantee the weather will be better in the mountains of Wyoming or Colorado – though it sure might be. So I think I would try to look at long-range weather forecasts to guess at the March weather, and if it looked okay, I’d plan the northern route. If it looked crappy, I’d probably look at a more southern route if that offered some improvement. IOW, I’d plan two routes and then make my decision based on weather closer to the days you’re going to be there. BUT in any case I’d take I-84 into Portland – it’s the obvious road in if you’re not taking the extreme time-wasting scenic-route, and it keeps you out of the Cascades. It also happens to be quite pretty, for some stretches.

And while it may be true Oregon hasn’t been getting bad weather this year, that isn’t true for much of the rest of the west – just talk to the folks in Colorado. Montana and Wyoming have also received a lot of snow this year. Will it be gone by March? Maybe, maybe not. As the old saying goes: If you don’t like the weather in the Rockies, then wait five minutes, it’ll change.

12

My recommendation would be I-90 to Spokane, WA, then cut south and pick up I-84 to resume your trip west. I’ve driven both of these in all sorts of weather in the Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon area, and can state that even in the worst situations, like a white-out blizzard, you’re not far from help and you’ll likely have plenty of time to make it to a safe location to wait it out – plus, there’s cellphone coverage pretty much everywhere along the I-90 corridor. Chains are a good idea to have, just in case, but chances are you won’t need them. Stock up on a bit of water, some traction sand/kitty litter, stick a shovel in the trunk of one or both of the cars, and enjoy the trip. :slight_smile:

Whatever you do, cut south before or after Idaho, but not IN. Southern Idaho is a nasty, nasty place to do winter driving, even on the interstates. Similarly (but for differing reasons), avoid Nevada and Utah. Both are beautiful, but desolate.

A bit of driving advice for the I-84 stretch: rest up before you hit The Dalles. It’s a lovely drive, with beautiful scenery and good roads, but the winds can be HELLISH in that area. They’re not always bad, but when they are they don’t kid around, and they’re usually crosswinds.

As Jodi said, Bozeman Pass can get nasty, but I’ve yet to see it actually impassable (and I’ve driven it in all seasons). Take it slow and careful if it’s bad out and you’ll be fine, chances are you can just whizz through.

And hey, if you decide to take this route, look me up when you hit Spokane. I’ll buy ya a beer. :slight_smile:

13

I just wanted to add something here. I’ve driven this route (sort of - a road trip to Tucson, AZ), and I can state that the nastiest hill I had to worry about was the one at the Nevada/Oregon border. I did that trip in summer. I’d hate to think about trying it in winter (or even early spring).

Just my $0.02.

14

I missed this part. It goes without saying that any route from NYS to OR that takes you through Nevada or California is taking you way out of your way. Which is fine if you want to see some country, but that would be completely weather dependent if it were me.

Trying to cut northwest through Nevada and Oregon puts you on some pretty dinky back roads – again, great if you’re there to “see the USA in your Chevrolet,” bad if your’e trying to make time. And bad if the weather is bad.

The worst traveling weather I’ve ever encountered – and growing up in the Montana, I’ve seen a lot of bad weather – was trying to get across Mount Hood from Bend, OR, to Portland, OR, after the Thanksgiving holiday. We were chained up, but I honestly didn’t know if we would make it over. That a serious pass, and it’s not a great road. (Well, the worst was when I snapped a tie-rod going over Lookout Pass in a February snowstorm and was almost killed, but that was auto-related, not weather-related.)

15

Something that may be relevant for toadspittle and spouse: If a garden-variety snowstorm does happen, how long are the passes on those main roads (90, 80 etc.) typically dangerous? Do they get them cleared out and navigable by civilians within a day or so on average? If so, and if you can build in some time on your trip to sit tight in a motel for a day or so while that happens, that may make the whole route decision one of convenience / pleasure, less “willIgetthere?”

Note - just guessing / wondering on that. Only direct experience with any of that was I-90 between Seattle and western Montana, and that was in June. Well, and I5 / US101(?) south of Seattle later that same June but snow was not an issue for any of that.

16

They generally plow the roads out from large to small, starting with the main arteries, which out of town are the Interstates. The Departments of Transportation in these western states are used to dealing with snow storms and are highly efficient; when it starts to snow, they get the plows out and the sanding trucks out.

If the roads get too bad over the passes, they do close them. So it’s a good idea to have emergency supplies, including warm clothes and munchies, in case you’re cooling (ha!) your heels at the side of the road for a while. This is highly unlikely to happen in March, but spring storms are not unheard of.

But if the weather is at all iffy, then yeah, you probably do want to stay on the Interstates. Nice wide road; good maintenance; multiple lanes so you get move to the right and drive as slowly as you think is safe (within reason) without someone riding your bumper; and the most direct route from A to B.

Personally, I really don’t like the Interstate; I think it’s boring and I’m almost always take a secondary highway unless I have to make time. The exception to that rule is bad weather. Whether that includes March – there’s no way to say.

17

Uh, we’ve had bad wind/rainstorms, icy roads, and abnormally cold temps in the Willamette Valley this winter.

Talk to AAA about truck routes. Those will have flatter grades, pulloffs, and generally better access to services. I-84 has a rather dizzying descent to Pendleton from the east, but might be a good route into Portland along the Columbia.

18

I was responding to Lightnin’s post, which said:

Don’t know which of you is right, though; I’m a long way from Oregon these days. :slight_smile:

19

You’re more likely to get wiped out in Eastern Ohio, anyway.

As everyone has noted, take an emergency kit (including sufficient usable food), then take the Northern route, simply being careful to watch the weather carefully. I’d say plan for a few extra days of travel. If they indicate a storm, hole up where it is safe before the storm hits. There are a significant number of cities on that route that would not survive if the roads were constantly closed. Since the cities continue to exist despite the disappearance of the railroads, it is obvious that the roads are being generally kept open.

Don’t “press on” when storms are threatened and you should be fine.

20

I can’t believe that brother Kilvert didn’t throw in this link:

Wyoming Road Conditions

Enter a town along I-80 (i.e. Cheyenne, Laramie, Green River, etc) to see the conditions. Some of the towns have webcams set up on the roads as well.