Safe passage in winter on I-80

[doodledog]

Looking for guidance. We will be in Grand Tetons as the season comes to a close in early/mid-October. We want to head south and west to Reno and then over the mountains to California. Are we going to run into problems crossing the mountains?
Does anyone have experience/advice about traveling out west as winter comes on?
Our planned route from Grand Tetons to Reno is all highways (89-26-15-86-84-93-80). From Reno we would head west on I-80. We're from CT and have no experience with the great west. Thank you for any guidance.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

You *can* very easily see snow in October going through the mountains. Indeed you can see snow in July, but not enough to impact the roads . Fortunately we live in the era of weather apps that do a pretty good (though not perfect) job of providing multi day weather outlooks.

Simple answer is to plan with enough "slop" in the schedule that you can hunker down for a few days if needed. If it' looks iffy, just wait it out. They *will* get it all plowed and once they do ... no problems.

Bob

[Runs_4_beer]

I live in Reno and went to school in eastern Idaho so I'm familiar with your route. As Bob mentioned, you will likely be just fine. But there are some early storms that blow in. But I've never seen Donner Pass closed in October due to snow. Worst case is chain controls. California requires chains on your TV and on the trailer. If you're up for chaining, you will have no problem getting over the pass. Otherwise, plan an extra day if necessary and stay a night in Reno and donate some money to a casino.

[sirtate]

^^^^^^^^


I carry chains because I might need them to get down the hill...

I will never chain up to go up the hill...

It's always better to be hunkered down reading a book, waiting for the storm to blow over, than to be driving wishing you were hunkered down.

October has snow across Donner, but you'll know before you hit Reno what's going on.

Lots of places to park and grab a buffet and a show in Reno while the storm blows itself out over the mountains.

Likewise, find 'checkpoints' where you will plan on stopping before you continue along the other highways.

Usually, there will be plenty of notice on the lowlands before you have to climb the passes to warn you of foul weather.

It will generally be above freezing in the lowlands, so foul weather up high will present as rain down low in October.

Like Reno, you can set your sights on that town and head there before the hill, and if the pass is lousy, spend a day there reading your book...

(PS. Bring books for such emergencies)

[PKI]

Well - what they said. Year before last in late September we were chased across Wyoming by a snow storm. All good after we dropped down into Salt Lake.

The key is to do the trip in a clear weather window. We have traveled I80 in December with no weather issues.

You may not need chains, but you could be restricted from proceeding on your route if do not have them and bad weather is forecast. Never heard of that happening, but a couple of sets of chains are relatively inexpensive and ones that work with your trailer (cables?) should be in your kit.

We stopped at the top of the pass one year so our son could play in the snow, but nothing was on the road all the way to Kansas. Recently, we got caught in a hail storm on the way up the pass. Bad weather was forecast, but not until that night. The early hail was unexpected, but passed through quickly.

It's the weather window. Good luck with the trip. Pat

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Also: make sure the propane tanks are full before you start your journey. You never know when you might need a bit of extra heat.

The other "gotcha" there is 12V power. Battery capacity goes down when it gets cold. If you are stuck for a couple days (unusual but possible) with no way to hook to shore power, a small generator might be a good idea. A full blown solar setup might make that a less important item on the list.

===

As noted above, snow does indeed happen a lot of places. "Monster two day backup on the interstate due to snow" is a headline that pops up with some regularity in Pennsylvania. Basically the same sort of thing as out west. You get enough snow in the mountains and going up and down hill becomes impossible.

In PA, the semi's get hit pretty hard this way. Once they stall out blocking all the lanes ... that's it. Yes, each year there is a lot of yack about changing alert policies and regulations so it will never ever happen again .... good luck with that.

Bob

[davidjs]

Last February we traveled back to Utah from Southern California, and we were facing an impending snowstorm. I searched for the Utah highway conditions and found that the Utah Department of Transportation has a good Road Conditions website. They had a link to a smartphone app. We used this app on our drive, and it was AWESOME. (In my experience, iPhone apps are usually inferior to the web site, but in this case, the phone app was much better.) The Map/Traffic view has links to all of the traffic cameras in the state, so you can get a live view of whether the road has been plowed. The Map view has separate tabs for Traffic, Construction, Road Conditions, and Fx (Forecast, I think). We found the Fx/Forecast view to be extremely helpful, as it showed a forecast for road conditions in 3-hour blocks, presumably based on weather forecasts and anticipated snow plow activity. For example, midnight to 3 AM and 3 AM to 6 AM said driving conditions extremely difficult, 6 AM to 9 AM slushy road conditions, 9 AM to noon, road largely clear with occasional packed ice, and for the afternoon it said the road would be clear but wet. This information helped us tremendously on our drive.

I figured other states might have similar apps, and I looked just now. I found apps for Idaho, Washington, Nevada, California, and Wyoming. I don’t know if these apps are as good as the Utah one, but I am put all of them on my phone. Colorado DOT does not have an app any longer but has a web site. Similarly, Oregon DOT no longer has an app, but there is a $2 third-party app, and a rather clunky web site from the state DOT.

Safe Travels!

[Olscot]

If you don't mind 2 lane roads and enjoy site seeing you could go North out of Reno to Susanville and across to McCloud, Ca. Mt Shasta is beautiful as you are heading West. Should be early enough in the season to be OK. Just be sure to check weather and road conditions. We could always get an early winter. Too hard to predict this far out. Quite a bit of truck traffic year a round so is a well maintained route. Watch out for deer they don't always use their crossings. Lots of places to camp or boondock. Going South on I-5 the Rolling Hills Casino near Corning had a great buffet and parking. Prime Rib was great on Tuesdays.

[mykytiukr]

Consider going this route crossing into California! Check it out on the map. U.S 395 North from Reno then California Hwy 70 west through Quincy. 3000 foot lower elevation at the highest point and much more scenic. Easy road to travel! Been through there many times with the big truck!

Motor On!!!

[mykytiukr]

Originally Posted by mykytiukr

Consider going this route crossing into California! Check it out on the map. U.S 395 North from Reno then California Hwy 70 west through Quincy. 3000 foot lower elevation at the highest point and much more scenic. Easy road to travel! Been through there many times with the big truck!

Motor On!!!

Just one more thing I’d like to mention! Back in the day this was always the preferred route to get to California by the “old timers” when I-80/Donner was closed due to heavy snow. There has even been a few songs written about this route! One in particular by Red Simpson “Roll Truck Roll”

[WaLee]

All good advice here. Not too many storms in October. I drive over the summit twice a day. It’s an easy pull. If there is an early season storm and you have to get over the Feather River route would work. Otherwise get to Reno and do the casino parking or an RV park. Sparks Marina, KOA at Boomtown or Gold Ranch. A little farther up is the Truckee River RV park. All of those are decent.