Road condition in Arizona during winter

Hi the

I plan to make a road trip from Los Angeles, California to Albuquerque, New
Mexico using I-40 around end of December/early January. Could you tell me how
is the road condition across Arizona at that time of the year? I am concern
about wintery road condition. Is it as bad as the Sierra-Nevada on I-80?

Thanks a bunch.

"I12ask" wrote in message
...
Hi the

I plan to make a road trip from Los Angeles, California to Albuquerque, New
Mexico using I-40 around end of December/early January. Could you tell me
how
is the road condition across Arizona at that time of the year? I am concern
about wintery road condition. Is it as bad as the Sierra-Nevada on I-80?

It depends on when the weather fronts are coming across. I-40 is usually open
because it's a major trucking route, but it does have sections closed in
winter for a few hours at the time when the plows can't keep up with snow
fall, mostly between Kingman and Flagstaff.
http://www.w3.weather.com/index.html?
This gives you details that are up to date every hour or so.
Tom J

From: (I12ask)

I plan to make a road trip from Los Angeles, California to Albuquerque, New
Mexico using I-40 around end of December/early January. Could you tell me how
is the road condition across Arizona at that time of the year?

Usually clear but I-40 is dangerous during or just after heavy snow storms and
is often shut down several times each winter for a few hours. The elevation
around Flagstaff is about 7,000 ft and it seems everytime the road gets icy
there are big pile ups at the bottom of hills on either side of Flag, shuting
down I-40 until they clear it up.

If it's raining in LA it's likely snowing (or will be soon) in Flag. Some
winters it only snows a few days but there have already been three snow storms
up there so far this year so it looks like it could be a wet one.

I am concern about wintery road condition. Is it as bad as the
Sierra-Nevada on I-80?

Nope, not even close, but it isn't plowed as quickly either since there are few
towns of any size on the route.

You could always take I-10 to Phoenix and US 60 to Socorro, then I-25 to
Albuquerque if 40 looks bad. This avoids most of the elevation except for a
stretch of 60 near the NM border.

It clearly is not as bad as I-80 on average. That said there will be a
few occasions where it will be very bad. Simply pay attention to the
forecasts and stop if things are deteriorating. Moving south to I-10
will get you an even better average but again there will be occasions
where even this is bad for a while.

I12ask wrote:

Hi the

I plan to make a road trip from Los Angeles, California to Albuquerque, New
Mexico using I-40 around end of December/early January. Could you tell me how
is the road condition across Arizona at that time of the year? I am concern
about wintery road condition. Is it as bad as the Sierra-Nevada on I-80?

Thanks a bunch.

I plan to make a road trip from Los Angeles, California to Albuquerque, New
Mexico using I-40 around end of December/early January.
Could you tell me how is the road condition across Arizona at that time of the year?
Is it as bad as the Sierra-Nevada on I-80?

It can get ooky, but mostly when a weather front is coming through.
This is usually predictable enough to handle by timing if you build a
day of schedule contingency into the trip. Once the front has gone
through they re-open the road pretty quickly.

It usually doesn't get as bad or stay as bad on I-40 as during a big
dumping of "Sierra Cement" on I-80. There's just less water in the
air by the time everything gets that far inland. Flagstaff averages
about 100 inches of snow a year, whereas Donner Summit, say, gets 400.
Somehow the bad area on I-80 through the Sierra always strikes me
as being longer and worse, too.

When planning your trip, remember that the Continental Divide between
Gallup and Grants can briefly get serious winter weather too.

If it looks bad and your schedule doesn't allow you to wait it out,
consider I-10 to I-25 as an alternative. It's a few hundred miles
longer but chances are that any weather bringing snow to Flag is
bringing rain to that area or missing it clean.

All in all, though, it's nothing to be afraid of. Make sure your car
is in good shape, including all season tires with plenty of tread left
-- this is no time and place to get the last thousand miles out of old
baldies nor to use radical dry-road performance rubber. Carry warm
clothes, a strong flashlight, and some food and water. And above all,
drive prudently.

I've driven around that part of the country in all conditions, and
have seen a lot of wrecks -- pretty much all of them looking like they
were caused by either foolish combinations of speed and inattention,
or falling asleep at the wheel. (Again, a big part of prudence on a
long trip is the safe driver's magic trick -- turning into a motel.)
Doing something deeply foolish in the proximity of a big-rig is
another classic.

Of course, the bottle doesn't help any of these circumstances. And
*not* all of the accidents occurred in snow. People figure out how to
wad up their cars under perfectly fine conditions, and I-40 is no
exception to this rule. But I assume we're preaching to the choir
here, so... time it for decent weather (which is most of the time even
over the top), take it steady and easy, and enjoy some of America's
most beautiful country.

Cheers,
--Joe

On Sat, 20 Nov 2004 23:07:26 -0500, "Tom J"
wrote:


"I12ask" wrote in message
...
Hi the

I plan to make a road trip from Los Angeles, California to Albuquerque, New
Mexico using I-40 around end of December/early January. Could you tell me
how
is the road condition across Arizona at that time of the year? I am concern
about wintery road condition. Is it as bad as the Sierra-Nevada on I-80?

It depends on when the weather fronts are coming across. I-40 is usually open
because it's a major trucking route, but it does have sections closed in
winter for a few hours at the time when the plows can't keep up with snow
fall, mostly between Kingman and Flagstaff.

And, from time to time, for a few days at a time. But that's
pretty rare.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *