Providence, Rhode Island to Cheyenne, Wyoming
Posted by Ryan
It's a road trip! Or, should I say... a Rhode trip? No, I should not say that. It will take about 4 days to get from Providence to Cheyenne, covering 512 miles a day (or moving at 64mph). The 4th day will be a hair shorter. Let's leave from one smallest state (in size) to another (in population)
DAY ONE
The massive system setting up in the center of the country is going to play a huge role in this trip. Not on the first day though. It will play a large role, but not huge. The trip through New England into eastern Pennsylvania will be unremarkable. After we hit Lock Haven, PA, however, we will begin to encounter some scattered rain showers, which will carry us on to St. Petersburg, Pennsylvania, which is between Grove City and Clarion.
DAY TWO
We will be in the warm sector for most of the day Sunday, and after a few morning showers in northern Ohio, things will clear out through Indiana. Seasonably warm temperatures will be ours to enjoy. Of course, we will arrive in La Salle, Illinois at about the same time as the nasty squall line. There is a chance for strong winds, hail or even a tornado near La Salle when we arrive.
DAY THREE
It will be a stormy night in La Salle, but we can expect things to clear out and cool off by the time we leave Monday morning. There will be quite a bit of lingering overcast across I-80 west from La Salle. We will dodge a few drops of chilly drizzle, particularly crossing the Mississippi, and in eastern Nebraska. The day will end in Aurora, Nebraska, which is west of Lincoln, but not quite to Grand Island.
DAY FOUR
The final day, Tuesday, will begin and end drearily. There may be some of that persistent overcast in Aurora when we leave, but it won't last long, and most of the drive through Nebraska will be dull. Weatherwise too. The next round of wet weather will be moving through the northern Rockies on Tuesday, and the initial batch of moisture will be spilling into Cheyenne (as rain) as we are making the final steps in the trip to the capital of Wyoming.
Burlington, Vermont to Atlantic City, New Jersey
Posted by Ryan
Another day, another road trip. We are heading south from Burlington to southern New Jersey. We will take a full day, navigating through New York City, covering 416 miles at a mere 53.6mph. Slow going, but this is the price you pay when driving through a more urban environment.
There is an area of low pressure off of the New England Coast, and it will eventually try to inch northeast towards the Maritime provinces, all the while pulling south some cold air south. There won't be much moisture leftover as we head south from Burlington, but there will be some late developing sprinkles south of Albany. In the higher elevations, it will almost certainly be falling as snow. Drizzle for an entire 8 hours? Yep, sounds like April. Good thing there is a lot to do indoors in Atlantic City.
Chico, California to Burlington, Vermont
Posted by Ryan
Oh, man, this is a long trip. It will be a 6 day trip, and I am laid up with the flu. I can't imagine that I will be getting through this very quickly, but that's appropriate. We won't be getting through the road trip very quickly. It's 2970 miles between the two cities, and we will move at a pace of 64.4mph, which means we will cover 515 miles a day. It's going to be a long journey, so let's get on our way.
DAY ONE
It seems unlikely, because it's been so quiet across the country, but an area of low pressure developing over the Pacific will move inland overnight tonight. Expect it to pull in some cold enough air that our drive through the Sierras will be accompanied by snow showers in the mountains. I think it will be just warm enough that the drive through Nevada will be rainy. We will stop at the Victory Highway, exit 373 in Nevada. Not much by way of towns in this part of the world.
DAY TWO
Our problems again will be with the mountains, this time those in Utah and western Wyoming. There will be some rain and mountain snow at the higher elevations, but it will taper off after we reach Rock Springs. It will clear out and warm up until we reach the half way point between Elk Mountain and Laramie. Again, not much by way of towns in this part of the world. I hope you don't mind camping.
DAY THREE
The cold front will set itself up east of our route in Nebraska. There will be some remnant cloudiness in the Nebraska prairies, but we won't have to worry about much rain. Maybe a splash of drizzle between Sidney and North Platte, but not any rain. After North Platte, we will make our way east through Nebraska to Lincoln, where we might actually be able to stay in a hotel.
DAY FOUR
Hey, the towns we encounter are getting bigger and badder. We will make it as far as Tinley Park, a suburb of Chicago. Unfortunately, the cold front that we have been chasing will stall across Illinois. Post frontal rain will be a problem across much of Iowa and all of Illinois. It will start in in Avoca, Iowa, and heavier rain will pick up in Illinois as we find our way to the front. Expect it to get really rainy east of Joliet. Pull out the umbrella as we get into Tinley Park.
DAY FIVE
The rain on Monday will be heaviest in the morning, beginning to lose some of it's organization as we head east through Ohio, on into New York. It will just be generally rainy and cloudy all the way to Evans. New York, which is on the shore of Lake Erie, south of Buffalo.
DAY SIX
Finally, the trip is almost at it's end. And the rain is also at it's end. We will be able to enjoy some blustery, cool conditions, but it will be dry and *gasp* sunny as we finish the drive into Burlington.
Detroit, Michigan to Montgomery, Alabama
Posted by Ryan
Another day, another road trip. This one is going to take us a day and a half. Not too bad. It's a drive of 815 miles, and our pace will be 62.8mph, so the first day will be done after about 502.6 miles. This is going to be downright manageable.
DAY ONE
An area of low pressure moving through the southeast is very weak, if you are only considering the depth of the low. It's quite active if we begin talking about the shower activity associated with it, or the widespread thunderstorms it is kicking up. South from Detroit, we will not have any problems with the wet weather through Ohio. By the time we hit Kentucky, the northern end of the system will be drying out. There will be a chance for rain, yes, but it's going to be wrapping up. As we get to the Tennessee border, however, a reinforcing dose of heavy rain will be on it's way. Pack an umbrella, is what I'm saying. The day is going to end just across the Tennessee border, north of Nashville in Cross Plains.
DAY TWO
The good news is, the system is really going to really pick up steam overnight tomorrow, meaning things are going to be pretty smooth as we drive through Tennessee and a good chunk of Alabama. The bad news? There is no bad news. Montgomery is a very nice town.
Burlington, North Carolina to Detroit, Michigan
Posted by Ryan
I can honestly say, I am surprised. It only takes about 10 hours to get from North CArolina to Michigan. Not even close to what I was expecting. Well, a little close. Anyways, it's only 667 miles between the two cities, which means our pace will be 61.6mph. We can knock this one out no problem, right?
If you saw the footage today, you know about the tornadoes that strafed the Dallas metro this afternoon. That system is going to kick up some nasty weather through the southeast tomorrow. It won't be too bad along our route however, just some garden variety showers and storms, though they may have some fairly dense coverage. The storm action will be confined predominantly south of the Ohio River, so the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia could be home to storms and really heavy rain. It will clear out quite nicely north of Parkersburg, which will mean sunny to partly cloudy skies the rest of the way to Detroit.
Washington, DC to Burlington, North Carolina
Posted by Ryan
Today's trip is much more manageable than yesterday's, that's for sure. We are planning a voyage of a mere 290 miles, with a drive time of just under 5 hours. It's a pace of 60.2mph. We can do it, right?
Our short (relatively speaking) drive through Virginia and North Carolina will be one that gets progressively cloudier. After starting in sun in Washington, it will be partly cloudy by the time we hit Richmond, then mostly cloudy in Durham and points west, as we head into Burlington.
Olympia, Washington to Washington, DC
Posted by Ryan
For those curious, it is a 2789 mile drive from Olympia, the capital of Washington, to Washington, the capital. We will take a full 5 day trip along this route, at a pace of 65.2mph. This means, for 4 days, we will cover 522.2mph, covering a bit more on that last day, which will be Saturday. That's a heck of a lot of driving, so we had better hit the road, Jack
DAY ONE
We have actually found the first window in about a month with no real rain or anything around Puget Sound. We will drive northeast to Seattle and even through the rest of Washington State. The only threat for any precipitation will be in the Idaho Chimney, where some isolated valley drizzle may get trapped, reducing the visibility at some spots. We will finish our day in the northern Rockies, southeast of Missoula, in Milltown, Montana.
DAY TWO
Montana is a vast, empty state. We will not leave it at any point on Tuesday, going from Milltown to Ashland in the southeastern corner of the state. We are still outpacing any significant, unpleasant weather, so it should be a long, empty day.
DAY THREE
We will start the day in pretty decent shape, once again. Most of South Dakota will be enjoyed in relative silence, with no rain or clouds or anything climactically interesting. Things will begin to change when we hit the Missouri River near Chamberlain, however, as at that point, a system well to our route's south will begin to eject moisture north. We will contend with a few rain showers from then until we arrive at our Wednesday night destination, Hartford, South Dakota, which is on the outskirts of Sioux Falls.
DAY FOUR
Our drive through the Upper Midwest will be fairly decent, though don't be surprised if it's cloudy for much of the day. Weak instability through most of the Mississippi Valley will mean showers and storms across the majority of Iowa, into northern Illinois. We won't hit those showers until we ourselves are in northern Illinois, stopping for the final time in Belvidere, Illinois.
DAY FIVE
OK, so the timing and distance of this drive? Longest day ever. The ride will be slower, the distance long, but we will be able to do it. I've done 14 hours in a day before. And besides, there's really nothing to worry about on the drive, as high pressure is going to develop across the remainder of our route, allowing us to finish our grueling drive with this windows rolled down. It won't be that warm, but it will be nice to get a little fresh air.
Racine, Wisconsin to Asheville, North Carolina
Posted by Ryan
It's the only legitimate forecast that we Victoria-Weather meteorologists will put forth this week, and it's for a day and a half trans-Appalachia road trip. We are covering 733 miles at a pace of 60.1mph, slowed by a trip through Chicago and some elevation changes. This will even out to about 481 miles on the first day on the road, finishing it off on Wednesday. To the Forecastmobile!
DAY ONE
It's not often that we leave our first location and spend a couple hours driving through an urban environment, but driving through Chicago, that's exactly what we will do. We will pass through Indiana, the corner of Ohio where Cincinnati lies, and eventually Lexington, Kentucky, meaning a busy, fairly urban day that will end in Barea, Kentucky, which is about an hour south of Lexington. It's cool today in Racine, but we can expect a quick warm up in town tomorrow as we leave, and some gusty headwinds until about Indianapolis. After that, though, no problems on our way to Barea.
DAY TWO
An area of low pressure developing in the Great Lakes will generate a cold front in the Ohio Valley in the early morning on Wednesday. As long as we leave Barea on time, we will be able to get to Asheville without any problems, but if we dawdle too much, we might see a stray shower. When we are in Asheville, the rain will follow shortly after we arrive, no matter how the rest of the day goes.
Columbia, South Carolina to Lansing, Michigan
Posted by Ryan
Off on a trip! Are you ready? It will be a day and a half from the Carolinas to the Great Lakes. It's 774 miles in the midst of an early spring warmup. We will average just short of 60mph, which means the first day will be done after 479.5 miles. Let's head to the northland, shall we?
DAY ONE
The first day on the road will be a bit of a struggle. Do you leave the windows open, or no? Wipers on or off? Showers will be intermittent as we move through South and North Carolina, becoming a bit less abundant in western Virginia, but there might be more rain again in West Virginia. By the time we hit southern Ohio, we will likely be north of any precipitation, and when we get to Chillicothe, Ohio, our destination for the night, the stresses of wipers or no will be long in our past.
DAY TWO
Day two, Wednesday, will just be a quick jaunt to Michigan's capital, with very little to concern us, except maybe where to stop for lunch in Toledo. Lansing awaits!
Yuba City, California to Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Posted by Anthony
Good thing this road trip is going out now, the family is ready to go! 2053 miles separate these two cities, so they'll get there just in time for Selection Sunday!
DAY ONE
We head out of Yuba City southward through the Central Valley as an upper-level trough continues to slide through the Western US. Luckily, the system is pushing through the Four Corners portion of the country, leaving clear skies and light winds in its wake over most of CA. It should be a non-descript day as we stay at the Mojave National Reserve for our 1st night. Camping anyone?
DAY TWO
We continue our I-40 trip going through northern Arizona today and continuing into New Mexico. The system that moved through the Four Corners region is going to cutoff and stall out for a bit over the Southern Plains, with the upper-level system camping out over NM/TX. The trip today through Arizona will be pretty quiet with some increasing clouds the further east we go, and as we push into New Mexico, we could see some mountain snows between Gallup and Grants, with some active weather persisting as we pull into North Acomita Village for the night. There's a casino there!
DAY THREE
The weather settled down overnight over the region, with a few scattered showers lingering over northern TX, but will dissipate by midday. With this system cutting off over the Southern Plains, the models are becoming a bit more divergent in their solutions at this point. In any event, the weather over New Mexico on I-40 should be cloudy yet dry as we make our way into the TX Panhandle by the afternoon hours. At this point, we could see lingering rain showers over the eastern portions of the Panhandle as well as Western OK during the evening. If the system moves a bit faster, most of this precipitation should push off to the south and east by the time we get to this part of the trip. The rain showers won't be terribly heavy if they are present, so conditions on the interstate shouldn't be TOO bad as we pull into the appropriately named Weatherford for the night.
DAY FOUR
More I-40! If you somehow got lost during this trip, perhaps driving isn't for you. The cutoff area of low-pressure is going to spend the day intensifying and getting its' act together. I hope the wipers are working well because it's going to be a wet and possibly stormy day as we make our way past Oklahoma City and Henryetta and eventually into Arkansas by Fort Smith. Once we make it into Arkansas, the chances of rain should drop for the evening as we continue onwards to Little Rock and eventually to Pine Bluff!
