Driving from Calgary to Houston between Nov-Jan

Hi,

I may need to drive from Calgary to Houston (texas) some time between
late November and January (might move for work).

Some questions:

Is it totally insane to do this drive in the winter?

Are snow tires necessary? I imagine they would be useful while up
north, but would wear pretty quickly once i hit the more southern
states?

What would be the best route? Going the quickest way may not be
easiest in the winter.

I was thinking of

1) Taking the most direct route possible, but restricting myself to
well plowed major freeways

2) Going south through california and then going east through Arizona
and New Mexico. With this route I would hopefully enounter no snow/
minimal snow once in the states. Would winter tires still be needed
for this route?

Thanks.

Are snow tires necessary? I imagine they would be useful while up
north, but would wear pretty quickly once i hit the more southern
states?

Food, water, snow tires during these months of the year. Perhaps a shovel
and lots of clothes. Even a flashlight and some matches?

You'll probably skate right on through but as far as planning for this you'd
best do the Boy Scout thing. s

On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:36:52 -0700, wrote:

I may need to drive from Calgary to Houston (texas) some time between
late November and January (might move for work).

Some questions:

Is it totally insane to do this drive in the winter?

No. Once a year for several years, friends of mine and I drove from Las
Vegas to West Yellowstone in January via I-15 without any problems. It's
a well traveled route, and the Highway Patrol is very good about closing
it if parts are impassible, but we never experienced any.

Are snow tires necessary? I imagine they would be useful while up north,
but would wear pretty quickly once i hit the more southern states?

If it's bad enough to require snow tires, I'd stop and wait 'til the
highway is cleared. Regular tires, plus chains for emergencies, should
be good enough. Living in Calgary, you should have a better idea
regarding snow tires. Anyway, you're only going to be driving in snow
country a couple of days.

What would be the best route? Going the quickest way may not be easiest
in the winter.

I was thinking of

1) Taking the most direct route possible, but restricting myself to well
plowed major freeways

2) Going south through california and then going east through Arizona
and New Mexico. With this route I would hopefully enounter no snow/
minimal snow once in the states. Would winter tires still be needed for
this route?

Too much out of the way to go through California, not any less snow,
perhaps even the chance of more.

Here's the route I'd take. It's reasonably direct, gets you out of the
snowbelt as quickly as possible, and is interstate almost all the way.

Pick up US I-15 South at Coutts, and take it all the way to Las Vegas.
Then take US 93 South to Phoenix, where you catch the I-10 to Tucson, and
stay on I-10 all the way to Houston. A long drive, but simple.

Avoid taking the I-40 route through Arizona and New Mexico. It's high
desert. Flagstaff at 7,000 feet (2300 meters) above sea level is Alpine
climate, and gets sizable snow falls. That whole route to Albuquerque is
very prone to fast moving winter storms. You can become stranded in a
heart beat. And there aren't many towns along it: Just miles and miles
of empty miles. Take the southern route I've suggested. No snow.

And for God's sake, don't go through Colorado. I was in Denver late one
May years ago, and it snowed six inches!

Have a nice trip.


Stef

Are snow tires necessary?

Winter tires can definitely give you more control. But if you may move
to Houston, a more practical choice might be to get some new all-
season tires that have high ratings for traction in ice and snow.

For ratings, a good place to check is Consumer's Reports magazine (a
non-profit organization). You can see them for free at your local
library, and they also post their ratings at consumerreports.org,
although much of their site is for subscribers only. They conducted
extensive testing of popular all-weather tires and rate them according
to things like winter traction, etc. (I know because I recently bought
tires based upon their ratings.) Your public library probably has
them, and in the back of each issue they have an index to all their
reviews.

James

Albert Mills:
What would be the best route? Going the quickest way may not be
easiest in the winter.

I'll just make the comment that this is a question you probably
shouldn't decide until the last minute, when actual weather forecasts
will be available. Continental climate, year-to-year and week-to-week
variation, and all that.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "[That] statement is so full of hubris
| you can hear the wax melting." -- Steve Summit

Avoid taking the I-40 route through Arizona and New Mexico. It's high
desert. *Flagstaff at 7,000 feet (2300 meters) above sea level is Alpine
climate, and gets sizable snow falls. *That whole route to Albuquerque is
very prone to fast moving winter storms. *You can become stranded in a
heart beat. *And there aren't many towns along it: Just miles and miles
of empty miles. *Take the southern route I've suggested. *No snow.

For the record, I've been snowed on along the southern route, though
it didn't amount to much.

Anyway. My experience with driving that part of I-40 at all times of
year is extensive. Winter weather can be severe over the top
between Williams and Flagstaff, at the Continental Divide between
Gallup and Grants, and east of Albuquerque in the high country, no
doubt about it. However, winter storms there tend to be frontal and
predictable, and the authorities get I-40 plowed and re-opened as
fast as possible since this is one of the nation's truly major truck
arterials.

Checking the weather on the Internet or TV news in your motel room,
and allowing yourself a couple days of schedule contingency in case
you have to pull up short and let the weather go by, should allow you
to miss anything bad that's on its way.

Quite often one finds that the driving conditions aren't actually that
bad -- but other drivers are, so you're sitting there in a traffic jam
in quite acceptable conditions because someone with poor tires or low
skills or bad judgement had a wreck up ahead.

All in all, winter driving in this region is to be regarded with
respect and preparedness, not fear.

http://www.tirerack.com/about/techcenter.jsp has a section on many
aspects of winter driving in case you want to bone up on techniques
and see how you might equip yourself.

Have a safe trip,
--Joe

In article
,
" wrote:

2) Going south through california and then going east through Arizona
and New Mexico. With this route I would hopefully enounter no snow/
minimal snow once in the states. Would winter tires still be needed
for this route?

Definitely not via California from Calgary.
Lots of snow getting to northern California including the mother of all
snowy hills at Grants Pass on the I5.