It’s a very short road trip today! It’s not even really a road trip, it’s a 53-mile jaunt down the interstate. That’s all the separates Greensboro and Durham, NC. So, let’s see what tomorrow brings us!
There could be some areas of dense fog in the morning before burning off by 9-10am. After that mostly cloudy skies will give way to increasingly sunny skies come afternoon. Given that our trip is only an hour, let’s wait until the fog burns off before we hit the road, no reason to make things more difficult than they have to be. Easy day!
Lets start the week with a road trip. We’re going to head from southeastern Pennsylvania to the shores of Lake Superior. It will take us two days to cover the 1134 miles between our two cities. Day one will be over after 8 hours at a pace of 67mph. We’ll keep that pace on Day two, but travel a bit longer, after covering 547 miles on Monday, with the rest on Tuesday.
DAY ONE (Monday)
A big trough covering the country is bringing cold air to the country, but is also extremely disturbed. A low in the western Great Lakes will stick a tendril of moisture southeast towards Virginia, with showers — rain, exclusively — falling in the Alleghenies, making our drive difficult right from the start. Lighter sprinkles are going to be possible as we reach the Allegheny Plateau and head into Ohio. Overcast is a certainty throughout the day, but it will probably thin a bit after we pass Sandusky. It’s around there that the drizzle will end, and give us some reprieve as we continue on to Middlebury, Indiana, which is just outside of the Elkhart-Goshen region.
DAY TWO (Tuesday) Not long after we arrive in Middlebury, a strong system will sidle into town, and batter the region with heavy rain and wind. It will taper off by the time we depart on Tuesday morning, with all that nastiness of Monday lifting into Michigan. We’ll traverse Chicago without any precipitation, and head into Wisconsin as clouds start to darken. After we’ve passed Madison, likely in the Wisconsin Dells/Baraboo area, we’ll start to encounter some precipitation, likely to be rain, but potentially mixing with snow. It’s going to be this tightrope that we’ll be watching for the rest of the drive up to Duluth.
Today we embark on a 3-day trip from the foothills of the Rockies to the Ohio Valley. 1,249 miles separate Pueblo from Lima, so let’s hit the road!
DAY ONE
A system shifting through the Four Corners into the Southern Plains is bringing snow to the Pueblo area during the overnight into early morning hours. Some light snow will continue to fall as we head eastward out of the area. After an hour or two, the precip will come to an end as the focus of the system shifts down over OK/TX, leaving dry weather and partially clearing skies as we head into western Kansas. Dry weather will continue throughout the remainder of the day with some northerly winds. A rather pleasant afternoon is expected as we eventually pull into Salina, KS for the night.
DAY TWO
The storm system over the Southern Plains will quickly make it’s way into the Ohio Valley throughout the day. Dry weather and partly cloudy skies greet us as we start our day, though it will be noticeably cooler than the previous evening. Mostly dry conditions are expected throughout the day on our eastward jaunt along I-70. There’s a slight chance of some late-afternoon/early-evening rain showers as we close in on St. Louis, a product of some wraparound moisture still lingering over the Mid-MS River Valley behind our aforementioned storm system. St. Louis is where we stay for the night.
DAY THREE
A weak ridge of high pressure shifts over the MS River Valley overnight, though it’ll be chilly as some cold air continues to dig in on the backside of this system. Partly cloudy skies will last throughout much of the day as we continue eastward on I-70 through Illinois and past Indianapolis. Overcast skies are expected as we approach Ohio and don’t be surprised if we see a stray shower as we turn northward out of Dayton towards Lima, but shouldn’t be anything more than a brief nuisance!
Who’s ready to head to Texas? It will take a day and a half to travel from Kentucky to Texas, covering 855 miles between our two cities. At a pace of 66.9mph, we will be able to cover 535 miles on our first day, leaving a mere 320 miles for Tuesday. Hopefully the weather is cooperating.
DAY ONE (Monday)
I’m not sure you could ask for much better weather than what we are expecting in the southern Plains. High pressure is going to sit over the region, leaving a nice pool of tranquil air over the southern Appalachians, spreading west towards the lower Mississippi Valley. We’ll make it all the way to Lonoke, Arkansas (east of Little Rock) and won’t be confronted by a cloud, much less a rain drop.
DAY TWO (Tuesday) Low pressure is sliding into the Northern Plains by Tuesday, and dragging a cold front into the Central Plains. Precipitation won’t reach the stretch of road between Sherman and Lonoke, but southerly winds will increase, and we might see a ouch of rain before the drive is through. Extremely manageable. Couldn’t ask for a better drive.
Today we embark on a day trip westward across the great state of New York! What fun awaits us on your daytime journey? Let’s take a look!
High pressure is camping out over the Northeast, however, a storm system is working its way up from the Southeast. Overcast skies are expected to remain throughout the day and rain showers are expected to make their way into the state. However, with our trip only taking 3-4 hours, we’ll comfortably make it into Buffalo before rain starts in the late evening hours.
We’re not quite crossing the country, technically, but driving from Maine to western Nevada qualifies as “almost”. It’s a 5 ½ day trip from Portland to Reno, covering almost 3000 miles, putting us at a pace of 67.6mph. we’ll lose most of that time in New England, because I-80 will be very forgiving through the center of the country. Expect 541 a day, which will be pushing it on Day One, but easy in subsequent days.
DAY ONE (Wednesday)
Cool high pressure has infiltrated New England, but that’s only going to last today. Expect a little post frontal trough to rotate through the eastern Great Lakes into tomorrow, and intercept our course in the mid afternoon. The particular concern this time, is that temperatures are going to be chilly enough that snow flurries aren’t out of the question, and starting in Herkimer, New York and continuing west through the Finger Lakes, there will be a chance for some light flurries until we arrive in Dunkirk, south of Buffalo. We’ll potentially have snow on the ground as we call it a night in western New York.
DAY TWO (Thursday) The nice thing about our burst of snow on Wednesday is that it will move very quickly to the east. We’ll be in clear skies by the time the sun rises on Dunkirk, and high pressure is going to set up across the Great Lakes and central Plains by the end of the week. There won’t be a threat for any showers, storms, or maybe even clouds throughout the day. We’ll make t to Ottawa, Illinois by day’s end.
DAY THREE (Friday) The drive west on Friday will be a bit more tenuous. There are the early indications of a cold front developing just west of the Mississippi, though nobody is completely sold on the precipitable impact for our route. If we see any wet weather, it will come quickly between the Quad Cities and Des Moines. After Des Moines, expect blustery conditions and a noticeable drop in temperature. We’ll stop between Lincoln and Kearney, in Shelton, Nebraska, where it will be cooler but dry.
DAY FOUR (Saturday) If we thought we had high pressure on Thursday, well, the ridge setting up on Saturday will really knock our socks off. It’s going to be so stable in Nebraska and Wyoming as the weekend gets underway. We’ll reach Table Rock in south central Wyoming to end the day. Good luck finding a spot to stay, but it’s going to be extremely tranquil, wherever we go.
DAY FIVE (Sunday) The monsoon season isn”t quite over in the southwest, but it is seriously slowed down. Showers are going to work their way north into Nevada, but a large part of the activity will stay down around Las Vegas. Still, don’t be completely surprised if there is a dark cloud on the southern horizon between Wells and our destination for Sunday night, Valmy, Nevada.
DAY SIX (Monday) Monday looks like a pretty good day for driving to Reno, so long as you stay out of the mountains. You are staying on the route, and out of the mountains, right? Because there will be some high elevation snow up in those things. Reno? Reno looks real nice.
Today’s road trip will be just under 700-miles and take 2 days to cover, as we venture from N Indiana to the heart of Alabama
DAY ONE
A stationary front is sitting over Northern Indiana, keeping chances of rain in the area as we depart southward in the morning. Conditions should improve as we pass Indianapolis, with drier conditions expected over the southern half of the state but cloudy skies remain. We’ll be fine as we pass by Louisville but additional showers and thunderstorms are possible in the afternoon as we continue southward through Kentucky. Chances for inclement weather continues into the evening as we make way for Nashville, our stop for the night.
DAY TWO
Chances for some morning showers are possible in the Nashville area as we continue our southward trek. Conditions should improve by the time we make it to Alabama, but a few spotty early afternoon thundershowers are possible as we make our way past Birmingham and eventually into Tuscaloosa.
We embark on a week-long, 2,738 mile, cross-country road trip, right as weather gets busy in the Southwest. Juuuust peachy.
DAY ONE
We get an early start on the day as we’re playing a race of sorts on Monday. Tropical Storm Rosa is heading towards Baja California and looks to impact the Desert Southwest over the next couple of days. Rain streaming ahead of the storm is already impacting Arizona. Quiet weather is expected for our departure out of Santa Barbara towards Los Angeles, and continues as we head north on I-15 into the Mojave Desert. We head eastward on I-40 and will be following this interstate for quite a while and we’ll start to see some scattered shower activity in the afternoon as we cross over into Arizona. As the evening progresses, we’ll see an increase in shower activity and perhaps some embedded thunderstorms as we make our way to Flagstaff, our stop after the long day.
DAY TWO
The remnants of Rosa are shifting into Arizona this morning, so our start out of Flagstaff will be off to a slow start. On the plus side, the lions share of the heavy rains are getting caught up in the mountains to the south. However, it will still be a messy start to the day as we head out of Flagstaff towards Gallup, NM. The further east we go, the more the weather improves as the rain mostly heads northward into Utah. By the time we reach Albuquerque, the rain should have come to an end. The rest of the afternoon and evening should be fairly quiet as we end the day in Tucumcari, NM.
DAY THREE
Today should be a fairly easy day overall! Low pressure intensifying over the Northern Plains will cause much angst to those from Montana to Minnesota, but with a nose of high pressure extending into the Southern Plains, it should be enough to keep the rain chances away. We could probably see some increased southerly winds during the afternoon as southerly flow feeds the low pressure off north. We cruise on by Oklahoma City in the afternoon and settle in Tulsa for the night.
DAY FOUR
As low pressure continues to explosively develop and shifts into Canada, the cold front trailing this system is dropping into the Mid-MS River Valley and Central Plains. We still expect dry weather as we head out of Tulsa northeastward on I-44, but as we head past Springfield, MO and head further into Missouri, we’ll get closer to encountering showers and perhaps a few thunderstorms along the front. It looks like the activity will hold off to the north of our route long enough to make it to St. Louis, but the threat will remain for the rest of the evening as we head into Effingham, IL for the night.
DAY FIVE
Today will be an abbreviated day of sorts, as we’re only traveling 350 miles to Columbus, OH. But as a new area of low pressure begins to intensity over the Midwest, scattered shower activity looks to develop over the OH Valley throughout the morning. Heavier activity will remain off to the north of our route, but don’t be surprised if we see a stray thunderstorm over OH before we read our destination for the day.
DAY SIX
A cold front will be hot on our heels today as we continue eastward on I-70 then get onto I-76, which will take us the rest of the way. We could see some morning shower activity, but dry weather is expected for much of the day. An approaching cold front will continue to trail us, bringing showers and thunderstorms to OH and NW PA, but luckily it’ll be just slow enough so our final push into Lancaster should be largely an easy task. We’ve made it!
Let’s get our October started off right, and make our way from Upstate New York to southern Mississippi on a 2 and a half day journey across middle America. The trip will cover 1382 miles at a pace of 69mph. Days 1 and 2 will have a goal of 552miles, with day three shorter and allowing some beach time.
DAY ONE (Monday)
There is an orphaned band of precipitation at the southern flank of high pressure over the Great Lakes, and it will continue to present western New York with the threat for an isolated shower through most of the day. Even so, the ability to draw moisture towards the boundary is going to be compromised by undercutting troughs, and our route is likely to be mostly unoccosted, because the trough causing precipitation in New York will be slightly north of the New York Thruway. Certainly, by the time we pass Dunkirk, we will be out of the woods, and with that area of precipitation organizing around a developing wave around Lake Michigan, the drive through Ohio looks pretty good. We’ll call it a day around Midway, Ohio, which is Midway between Columbus and Cincinnati.
DAY TWO (Tuesday) As the wave in the Great Lakes moves east, it will collect a bit of moisture and dangle a weak line of showers and isolated embedded thunderstorms through the Ohio and Tennessee Valley. It’s going to line up right along our route, and I-65 will be fairly damp through Kentucky and Tennessee. It should be a bit more stable by the time we reach Alabama, however, and the drive through the northern part of the state will be hot, humid but free of rain. We’ll end up in the Pelham area, which is a southern suburb of Birmingham.
DAY THREE (Wednesday) Everything is looking great for the southern US by mid-week. There is nothing on the horizon for southern Alabama, and if we see anything in Pascagoula, it will be a brief shower off the Gulf, but I’m not expecting even that.
Today we embark on a one-day road trip, from eastern NC to northern AL. It’ll be a lengthy day, will the weather cooperate with us getting to Alabama in a timely manner?
A nose of high pressure is extending over the Carolinas into parts of the Deep South, so our day should start off dry and mostly sunny. The weather shouldn’t be an issue as we get into Georgia, the main issue will be hoping the roads we need to be open to get out of NC are actually open, considering rivers continue to crest with catastrophic flooding continuing over the Eastern Carolinas. A cold front is pushing into the OH Valley tomorrow evening, trailing back into the Southern Plains, but should remain far enough off to the northwest as to not adversely affect our final push towards Gadsden. A couple spotty showers may sprinkle the landscape, but nothing too concerning.
