Ithaca, New York to Saint Joseph, Missouri

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This road trip seems like it might be popular. Ithaca is downwind of the fires burning along the US-Canadian border, near Lake Superior. This trip will run through the middle of the country and lasting two days. Total mileage will cover 1143 miles, at a pace of about 67.7mph. Our shorter day will be the first, and will conclude after 541.6 miles. We will start on Tuesday, because, well, it is early Monday morning back in the Continental US.

DAY ONE (Tuesday)

Ithaca, New York

By the time we get moving, a fairly decent area of low pressure will move into the Great Lakes. Eventually, this will help firefighters out, but in the immediate term, rain tends to bring particulates lower to the surface. IT will be especially smokey until it gets rainy. The rain should really set in between Erie and Cleveland, with the most intense thunderstorms somewhere near Columbus. It should conclude fairly quickly after that, but don’t be surprised if there is still rain in Englewood, northeast of Dayton.

DAY TWO (Wednesday)
Our route will be clear of that system, though there may be a bit more smoke in western Ohio into Indiana, before flow becomes southerly. This should be a mostly pleasant afternoon of driving, however the next wave will have an active warm front, which will be lifting into northwest Missouri as we arrive. The last hour or so of our trip is liable to be wet.

St. Joseph, Missouri

Jacksonville, North Carolina to Ithaca, New York

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We are taking a long day’s drive through the East Coast, covering 665 miles over 5 states and a district. Despite being solidly along the coast, the route will be fairly forgiving, cutting through Raleigh, Richmond, DC and then… Harrisburg? There is enough urban driving, and then the drive into the Poconos to account for, so our speed will only be about 62.5mph on average. Still, 5 states in a day? Not bad.

Jacksonville, North Carolina

It’s just that time of year. A low in the Gulf Stream is tailing a boundary into the Carolinas. It’s enough that there is widespread shower activity in the Appalachians tonight, and it’s liable to be a foggy morning as far north as DC. There will likely be showers embedded within the low clouds throughout Virginia as we make our way northward as well. I’ve been in Virginia only a couple of times, and it has rained every time. Is that a thing? Crossing the Potomac, and then heading north into Pennsylvania will be a bit nicer of a time. We will arrive in the Finger Lakes with mostly cloudy skies and a muggy atmosphere. The next boundary will be sliding out of Canada, making sure we don’t have TOO much fun in Ithaca.

Ithaca, New York

Brownsville, Texas to Logan, Utah

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This is a cool trip, with a route through the mountains. lasting three days and covering 1,671 miles. That breaks down to about 66.8mph, and two days of 534.7 miles, with a longer day at the end. It’s going to be pretty scenic, I think!

DAY ONE (Monday)

Brownsville, Texas

As you may have heard, there is severe weather in the Plains tonight. It will be more widespread and significant tomorrow as the low shifts to the Mississippi Valley. A cold front is expected to dangle off the southwestern flank of the feature, with strong thunderstorms possible. There is significant disagreement in the models as to whether storms will fire along this front as far west as our route, but if they do intercept, it will be around Eden, Texas. We won’t escape the state by the end of the day, rounding out the day in Forsan, near Big Springs.

DAY TWO (Tuesday)
The drive on Tuesday will be through the back roads of west Texas and New Mexico, including a pretty good cross section of Albuquerque. The big area of low pressure will be transitioning well away from the middle of the country by midweek, so the drive will ultimately be partly cloudy, with a bunch of scenery to enjoy. We’ll reach Counselor, New Mexico, halfway to Farmington.

DAY THREE (Wednesday)
Soak this day in. We’re going to trek through some of the most beautiful country the nation has to offer. We’ll run past several national parks, Moab and other tracts that aren’t federally protected, but still attractive. The weather will cooperate, with overcast coming back into the picture between Salt Lake and Logan. It will be one of the more exemplary drives we’ve taken, and the weather will generally be pretty great, too.

Logan, Utah

Springfield, Missouri to Billings, Montana

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Our journey this week takes us on a route that will certainly be easy on the traffic. We’ll head northwest over the course of two days, covering 1192 miles That second day will be our longer of the two, with a pace of 67.5mph. Our second day will be longer – and it will feel like it – with day one concluding after 540 miles.

DAY ONE (Tuesday)

Springfield, Missouri

Day one will be the day with actual human population along our route. We’ll pass through Kansas City, Omaha and Sioux Falls without much of an interruption. Temperatures will be nice and toasty along the way, and I will give you permission to leave windows cracked as we proceed. The day will end as we reach Montrose, South Dakota, not far to the west of Sioux Falls.

DAY TWO (Wednesday)
A pretty deep area of low pressure is going to develop midweek in the northern Rockies. It’s going to churn even more warm air and a bit of humidity. This is likely to play out with some thunderstorms developing late in the day. I would say there will be some storms in the Black Hills of South Dakota as we navigate through, with more isolated storms in southeastern Montana. Don’t be surprised if there is rain in Billings tomorrow evening, but don’t necessarily expect it, either. So what is there to do in Billings, anyway?

Owensboro, Kentucky to Springfield, Missouri

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We’re heading for a long drive on Friday. It will take 6 1/2 hours to cover 421 miles, which settles in at about 64.7mph, slowed mostly by St. Louis. Let’s cross two of America’s grandest rivers (and get pretty darn close to a third) in one day.

Owensboro, Kentucky

Our first bridge to cross will be over the Ohio and into Indiana, before we turn westward. The Mississippi Valley will be quiet for once, with warm, increasingly humid air for our route. So hot and humid, in fact, that there is a chance of some isolated pop up shower and storm activity early in the day. Low pressure in the Plains is going to drive that summerlike air north, and as we get west of St. Louis and the Mississippi, we will start to see more ominous clouds to the northwest, with the shower threat diminishing directly over our route. A very strong and active cold front will be congealing in northwest Missouri, and will arrive in Springfield that evening. After us, though, so we can sit and anticipate it’s arrival.

Springfield, Missouri

Baltimore, Maryland to Parkersburg, West Virginia

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It’s only going to take 5 hours to travel from the Inner Harbor to the Ohio Valley, but boy, things are going to be world’s different, culturally and scenically. What about climatologically? That is why I am here! This drive is going to cover about 319 miles, as I said for roughly 5 miles. That means a pace of about 64.9mph, slowed by city driving and hilly terrain.

Baltimore, Maryland

A cold front is going to move through the region overnight tonight, but it isn’t a strong cold front, and it is reinforced by a stout little batch of high pressure. This will allow things to clear out nicely as we run the length of Maryland, eventually crossing directly into West Virginia. The temperature should rebound a bit as well, given the sun, and post boundary fog won’t be wide spread. If only it was a bit greener, this might be the perfect drive.

Parkersburg, West Virginia

Ames, Iowa to Farmington, New Mexico

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It’s been a while since we have taken a road trip, and today’s journey takes us from a town that is host to Iowa State University, a school that is playing in tonight’s Sweet 16 basketball game. If you aren’t a basketball fan, then Farmington, in the 4 Corners area, is a scenic spring drive away. It will take two days and 1052 miles to cover the ground. The first day will cover less mileage, but the pace will be just shy of 63mph, and give us a daily target of 503 miles for the end of the day. The weekend approaches, and with that, perhaps, spring break.

DAY ONE (Saturday)

Ames, Iowa

Boy, that map, with the thousand miles of roadway, but no coast on any portion of it is very unsettling for some reason. Let’s get moving and stop thinking about it! Speaking of dry (oops, guess I didn’t stop thinking about it), high pressure, chilly for late spring, has descended into the northern Plains. This should keep things dry, and hopefully calm as well. We’ll get off the freeway in Kearney, Nebraska and head southwest into Kansas. Temperatures will jump around then, but so too will the southerly winds. It may be breezy, and it will certainly be dusty, but it will also be around 80 as we pull into Rexford, in northwest Kansas, and before we pass I-70.

DAY TWO (Sunday)

Low pressure moving out of Wyoming often sounds like a problem, but on this journey, not particularly. The warm front we cross on Saturday is stemming from a low moving out of Wyoming, and it is going to be bringing warmer air north, but out of the Southwest, and not inflow from the Gulf. Those dusty winds we contended with on Saturday night will probably be a part of our entire western Kansas experience between Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Temperatures will continue to be pleasant on the right side of the boundary, with highs in the low 80s. The winds will taper as we approach Walsenburg, Colorado, and really taper off for the rest of our mountain drive into Farmington. It’s a good weekend to hit the road.

Farmington, New Mexico

Gadsden, Alabama to Ames, Iowa

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We are off on another trek, this time lasting a day and a half, covering 884 miles. The first day will be the full day, and will conclude after about 532 miles. The pacing on this trip will be 66.5mph, which is pretty good! Let’s hope for dry roads!

DAY ONE (Monday)

Gadsden, Alabama

The weather is clear now, what with our cavalcade of wintry weather finally clearing out of the southeastern US. The interstates are getting cleared first, but the beginning of our drive, through hard hit Tennessee, specifically Nashville, which is still trying to thaw. It’s snow in Kentucky and southern Illinois, but that is a lot easier to push to the side of the road. Our drive will end in Wentzville, Missouri, a western suburb of St. Louis.

DAY TWO (Tuesday)
Behind the ridge that is bringing the pleasant weather to the Mississippi Valley is the next upper level trough, which I need to assure you is not like the last two. Nevertheless, some precipitation will be coming together as we get started on Tuesday morning. There may be a few flurries between Wentzville and Hannibal, but it certainly isn’t an all day affair for us, driving into Ames, which will be at least warmer than it has been.

Ames, Iowa

Raleigh, North Carolina to Gadsden, Alabama

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We are taking a one day trip, but it is going to be a slog through part of the world that has been the focus of wintry conditions this season. I can’t imagine that this bodes well for the journey. It is presently allotted for about 8 hours and 525 miles, covering 65.8mph. I hope. We just have to try to trust the local DOTs.

Fantastic news for anyone looking to travel in the Southeast: no new precipitation is expected for that particular stretch of land. Unfortunately, it won’t be getting any warmer, either. The chilly conditions, on top of a half foot of snow, in a part of the world that doesn’t get a chance to plow very often suggests that whatever snow fell over the last couple of days is probably still going to be there. The snow had a difficult time clambering over the higher terrain in the Appalachians, There is at least light snow as far to the west as Atlanta, where the eastern suburbs still have an inch or two on the ground. Fortunately, the roads will dry up to conclude the dry. Expect some tentative drivers joining the road with increasingly impatient drivers. The traffic should start to wind down for that last drive. Maybe then we can appreciate all that sunshine.

Gadsden, Alabama

Rome, Georgia to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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It’s a January road trip through Appalachia. Perhaps not as beautiful as the summer or fall, and maybe even a bit more treacherous, but… .well, I guess I’m not doing a good job of selling this trip. It will take us one long day to cover the 664 miles at a pace of 64.7mph.

Rome, Georgia
By Thomson200 – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63993488

There is a weak little wave moving into the Great Lakes, dangling a fairly inefficient cold front through the Mississippi Valley tonight, which is going to be arriving in the Appalachians tomorrow. The precipitation will be more likely on the western faces of the terrain, and for our drive from Rome to about Beckley, West Virginia, when the chance for snow will filter back in. The snow will persist through the Mountaineer State, and as we arrive in Pittsburgh – yep, snow there too. It won’t be Lake enhanced, and it is going to be very cold, so just expect some fluff.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania