Terre Haute, Indiana to Hanford, California
Quite the haul we have today! A 2,095-mile marathon from Western IN to the Central Valley of California. Better get a move on!
DAY ONE
Starting off our trip in Terre Haute, an area of high pressure has taken hold of the Central US. A front draped across the East Coast will continue bringing some precip to the Eastern US, but everything will be well off to the East of our starting point, so it should make for a rather easy start to the day as we make our way towards St. Louis. In fact, all of today should be smooth sailing as we drive towards the heart of the high pressure dome, so not much to worry about as we make our way past Joplin and eventually into Tulsa for our night.
DAY TWO
Hey look! More high pressure! Okay well maybe not quite so much today. The main chunk of high pressure continues to mosey on off towards the east, and with a system pushing through the Northern US is going to kick up some pretty strong southwesterly flow over the Southern Plains. It will continue to be fairly sunny throughout the day as we drive through Oklahoma and the TX Panhandle, however keep both hands on the wheel as it's going to be pretty blustery all day. We'll finish our day in Eastern NM in the small city of Tucumcari.
DAY THREE
As an area of low pressure is ejecting out into the Central Plains, the associated precip with it should remain north of it over the Central Rockies and into the Northern Plains. Winds may still be an issue as we make our way through the rugged landscape of western New Mexico and into Northern Arizona, but dry weather is expected throughout the day as well. A deck of high clouds is anticipated as the aforementioned system continue developing, so while keeping the sun at bay at times, we shouldn't have to turn on the windshield wipers. We'll finish our day in Flagstaff, AZ, just one more day to go!
DAY FOUR
We continue our lovely trip on I-40 through Western AZ and past Spring Break hotspot Lake Havasu. High pressure is controlling much of the Intermountain West today, with an area of low pressure expected to cutoff and drop southward along the CA coastline throughout the day. Luckily, most of the precip associated with it looks to remain offshore or right along the coast. Meanwhile, our route keeps us inland as we pass through Barstow and by Edwards AFB. Conditions will probably be cloudy due to the low pressure, but the precip will remain out of the region. Eventually we make our way past Bakersfield and finally further into the Central Valley as we make it into Hanford.
