Lebanon, Pennsylvania to Williamsport, Pennsylvania

After so many long trips across the country, it’s so nice just to journey within one state. This Keystone State drive will last only a couple of hours and cover just 93 miles of rugged terrain. We are looking at a pace of only 42mph! Let’s roll on, I guess.

Lebanon, Pennsylvania

It’s currently snowing throughout out eastern Pennsylvania, which may lead to some lingering slick roadways, particularly the more lightly traveled and higher elevation roads. The precipitation will be wrapped up as we head out, but chilly wind with the fresh snow will make the drive, short that it may be, fairly challenging. Having a bit of sunshine will help, and the sun has a better chance of peeking out if we leave later in the day.

Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Brunswick, Georgia to Colorado Springs, Colorado

We’re taking a three day trek to start the weekend, headed from the coast to the mountains. Our drive will cover 1,766 miles, with the first two days concluding after 565 miles and a surprisingly brisk 70.6mph pace.

DAY ONE (Saturday)

Brunswick, Georgia

There is a bit of drizzle on the Georgia Coast tonight, but the vast feature responsible for it is moving along responsibly. It will be dry in Brunswick by morning, and the length of our drive will remain so. This is good news, because winter driving in Atlanta and Birmingham can be hairy when things go sideways. We’ll get through both cities just fine, and end our day in Fulton, Mississippi.

DAY TWO (Sunday)
A large, broad trough that’s been hanging out at the upper levels of the western US for a couple of days is going to dampen out which will kick a lot of the wintry weather back north, and allow the mid-south to remain warm and dry. We will see mostly sunny skies through Memphis and Tulsa, eventually settling into Hallett, Oklahoma without seeing much.

DAY THREE (Monday)
As the jet sets up a west to east course through the northern US, a strong boundary will also set up from the northern Rockies through the Dakotas. This is where the action will be. Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado will be action free, and unseasonably warm.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

New Orleans, Louisiana to Brunswick, Georgia

We’re taking a trip along the route of the most recent blizzard. Of course, against convention, we will be taking a trip through the south and along the Gulf Coast. It will take only a day to cover the 615 miles between the two towns, and the good news is, no blizzard!

New Orleans, Louisiana

Low pressure is getting ready to pop in west Texas. There are already showers with a few embedded thunderstorms in the middle part of the Lone Star State, but things will really take off tomorrow. Fortunately for us, we are leaving in the morning, and will be clear into Georgia by the time the severe warnings start coming out in Louisiana, generally west of New Orleans anyways. Unlike earlier this month, the primary conditions in the southeast for our drive will be a steady southerly wind, bringing warm, moist air to the region. It will make the southeast feel like the southeast, and make this beach day feel closer to what it should. The 60s, instead of the 30s.

Brunswick, Georgia

Atlantic City, New Jersey to Santa Rosa, California

Wow, what a short trip! We are going from New Jersey to northern California, on a journey that is 2 full days shorter than the last one. We will cover 2,946 miles over 5 1/2 days at a pace of about 67 miles an hour, or 535.6 miles a day. Really, this is going to be a piece of cake, gang.

DAY ONE (Wednesday)

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Driving from Atlantic City to Santa Rosa is a job that seems like it should be done in a convertible. Probably yellow. All to say that a winters drive along this route seems cruel. It’s going to start very chilly as we depart from the Jersey Shore and cut through Pennsylvania. The major storm now on its way out of town is bringing strong northerly winds to the eastern Great Lakes. That is typically a good recipe for Lake effect snows, and sure enough, we will probably encounter some bands of heavy snow around the west Cleveland suburbs to Lorain. It will lighten up, but not disappear as we head on into Sandusky.

DAY TWO (Thursday)
Winds will taper off and so too will any lingering snow threat around Sandusky, giving us a clean start for the day. Still too chilly for that yellow convertable, though. We’ll head west through northern Indiana and Illinois, and will be between Cedar Rapids and Des Moines as our Thursday wraps in Brooklyn, Iowa. A weak clipper spiraling through the Upper Midwest will bring a threat for snow as we sleep.

DAY THREE (Friday)
The clipper won’t do much for accumulation, and will essentially leave southern Nebraska alone. As we get going on Friday, there might be extra traffic in Des Moines, but not enough to ruin our day. The sky will be clear, but the clipper will have brought in another batch of cold air. Expect our stops to be chilly, but will start to be a bit warmer when we stop for the night in Brule, Nebraska, in the first reaches of the Panhandle.

DAY FOUR (Saturday)
Another batch of disturbed weather will be arriving in the northern Rockies over the weekend. This feature is coming from the Gulf of Alaska, so will have spent a good deal of moisture before it arrives on the scene. Snow will probably still make an appearance throughout Wyoming, particularly on the western and northern faces of terrain, with plenty of clear air to appreciate as well. The mountain snow, valley dry pattern will continue into Utah, where we will stop at Emory, which lies in the Wasatch east of Salt Lake City.

DAY FIVE (Sunday)
We will leave the snow behind in the Rockies, because the Great Basin is going to be quite dry, and quite sunny. It will still be brisk, but we should drive through Nevada with no weather related concerns, though obviously one may need to contend with gambling temptations. Especially after leaving Atlantic City. Our day will end in Fernley, which lies just outside of Reno.

DAY SIX (Monday)
It can be dicey this time of year, passing Truckee, as you never know when you are going to get an 8 foot snow storm, but that won’t be a concern on Monday. We’ll be able to head closer to the Bay Area, and with the sun, we might be tempted to crack a window. It will be in the upper 50s or low 60s when we finally reach Santa Rosa.

Santa Rosa, California By JLankford – wikitravel, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37654846

Peoria, Illinois to Anchorage, Alaska

Sure, you may note the extraordinary length of this trip, but I would like to note that we are driving away from a major winter storm by headed through Canada to Alaska. It will be a 3,620 mile journey, lasting 7 1/2 days. The amount of time spent rolling over 2 lane highways in Canada and Alaska will set the pace at only about 60mph, and our days will be through after about 482 miles. To the land of the Midnight Sun!

DAY ONE (Monday)

Peoria, Illinois

The toughest part of the day on Monday will be digging out of Peoria. Even that won’t be terrible, as the heaviest snow is falling south of Peoria, though that is a razor thin distance, meteorologically speaking. Peoria has about an inch at this point, and Springfield is closing in on 8. Snow or no snow on the ground now, there will be a few persistent flakes through the morning that plows will be working at scraping off the roads. The threat for fresh snow will end around Davenport, and the threat for driving through any areas that will have seen snow today will be done when we turn north at Iowa City. Unadulterated roads will be our pathway through Iowa, up to the Twin Cities. We’ll stop northwest of Minneapolis, in Albertville, Minnesota on Monday night.

DAY TWO (Tuesday)
The good news, as I sort of spoiled with the intro to this post, is that we will fully be into high pressure behind the major winter storm in the middle of the country. Bad news is it will be very cold in our drive from Minnesota into North Dakota. The day will end near Minot, in the town of Burlington, where temperatures will almost certainly be subzero when we hit the road on Wednesday.

DAY THREE (Wednesday)
We won’t be under high pressure on Wednesday, but I don’t think we will see any precipitation either. We’ll enter Saskatchewan, and pass Regina and Saskatoon, eventually reaching North Battleford, northwest of Saskatoon for the night. Low pressure will be skirting the southern border of the Northwest Territories on Wednesday, but it won’t be able to tap into any moisture, so all we will see is energy. It will be blustery on the Canadian prairies, but I think we will be hard pressed to find any fresh falling snow. The best chance will be a stray flurry as the night ends.

DAY FOUR (Thursday)
We will travel west bound through Canada, passing Edmonton on our way to Crooked Creek, Alberta. There is a patch of civilization around Crooked Creek that will offer some places to stay and eat, surrounded by oil fields and oil workers. Low pressure is looming over the Gulf of Alaska, but the Rocky Mountains will keep us in good shape for the time being. On the lee of the Rockies, it should even be warmer than it was at our previous stops.

DAY FIVE (Friday)
Don’t be surprised by a damp start to our Friday, with moisture clearing the Canadian Rockies and settling into Crooked Creek in the early hours. Snow will be a possibility for only a short while as we get moving, and head even further north into Alberta, and finally British Columbia. We’ll turn west at Fort Nelson, stopping at Summit Lake in northeastern BC. It will be clear and cold, and we still have 2 1/2 more days to go.

DAY SIX (Saturday)
Low pressure and storms buffeting southwestern Alaska, sending a cold front into the Panhandle will not bother us at all on Saturday, as we trek through northern British Columbia and southern Yukon. Our route closes at night, so it is key to make this drive during the day time hours. We’ll pull into Canyon City, just before Whitehorse, and call it a night. Maybe the Northern Lights will be out.

DAY SEVEN (Sunday)
Back in the USA! We’ll cross into Alaska shortly after midday, and will continue to be grateful the roadways mostly hug the valleys, because precipitation will first and foremost be on the coast, thanks to low pressure over the Alaska Peninsula, but also in the high terrain, where snow will fall on the peaks of Denali. We will stay dry, and it will be cloudy, ensuring that the already dark days will be grimmer than normal. We’ll pull in for the night near Chistochina, about an hour and a half south of Tok.

DAY EIGHT (Monday… again)
A resurgent round of snow fall will slam the Alaskan shores on Monday morning, and some of that will bleed north into the valley of the Chistochina River. We will face increasing snow for the half day of driving down toward the Cook Inlet. It will be snowy and a bit blustery in Anchorage as we arrive, though that seems to be the standard this time of year. Wow, 8 days. Maybe consider flying back.

Anchorage, Alaska

Lafayette, Indiana to Peoria, Illinois

Before we get to our massive road trips coming up in the next few days, we will start with a short, 179 mile journey. The trip will consume only about 3 hours, on a pace of about 63mph. The weather is taking a turn for the worse in this part of the country, so despite the length, it will be interesting.

Lafayette, Indiana

Man, that is an old picture of Lafayette. When was Bank One still around? It’s the image I remember, though, having lived my college years just across the Wabash River in West Lafayette. Speaking of west, that’s the direction we are headed. Leaving on Saturday is a fantastic idea, as the weather is going to take a severe turn for the worse in the middle of the country this weekend. While this stretch of real estate is likely to see several inches of snow on Sunday and Monday, the drive will be under high pressure for Saturday morning. It may be a bit on the cool side, but it’s not like we are walking to Peoria, right?

Peoria, Illinois

New Orleans, Louisiana to Monroe, Louisiana

A product of having a state shaped like a boot, or, given the season, a stocking, is that if you are traveling from one part of the state to another, you are liable to end up spending a chunk of that drive in another state. This 4 hour drive that begins and ends in Louisiana will be spent mostly in Mississippi. It’s a 282 mile drive, likely fairly smooth sailing on Christmas Day, but plan for a pace of 66.9mph.

New Orleans, Louisiana

There may be some lingering showers as we get out of town to head over the (Mississippi) River and through the woods for grandmother’s house on Christmas Day. Momentum for the storm presently raging in east Texas will be gone by the time we drive in the morning, so heavy rain isn’t anticipated, and we may see clear skies for bits and pieces in southwestern Mississippi. It won’t last the whole time, though. We will reach Jackson with the looming specter of more, and potentially stronger rain showers redeveloping, and impeding us the rest of the way back to the Louisiana border. Rain will begin lightening up again as we cross back into our original state, but light rain will still be possible in Monroe.

Monroe, Louisiana

Virginia Beach, Virginia to New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a lot further south from Virginia Beach than I thought when this forecast first came up. It will be a tour of the southeast on this two day drive, which will bring us to New Orleans on Christmas Day. Our sleigh will be moving at 67.8mph for 1076 miles on this holiday road trip.

DAY ONE (Tuesday)

Virginia Beach, Virginia

A little bit of a perturbation in the Bight of Georgia is going to pull northward through the day today, and brush the Carolinas with a little bit of wet weather. We will skirt the periphery of this rain, which again, should be light, for our Christmas Eve journey, and it will erode both in the face of advancing colder air from the northeast, and simple distance from the sea. We will be in the clear as we turn west from Florence, South Carolina, and should then have quieter times through the remainder of the Palmetto State, and pull in for the night in Greensboro, Georgia, near Lake Oconee.

DAY TWO (Wednesday)
Merry Christmas, travelers. We will get started from Lake Oconee and head into Alabama, relatively unscathed, save for Atlanta traffic. The Gulf will be opening up as high pressure moves into the east Coast, which will mean some afternoon rain and thunderstorms in the Mississippi Valley. The threat for rain will begin near Evergreen, Alabama, and continue to New Orleans. Stormy conditions are probably going to be more pervasive inland, so hopefully, the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans aren’t too rainy to spend Christmas afternoon.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Corvallis, Oregon to Lancaster, Pennsylvania

It’s a classic cross country trek today, as we voyage from west to east over the course of 5 days. It’s 2813 miles between the two cities, and our pace will be about 67mph. Our 8 hour drives every day (for the first 4 days, anyway) will be about 535.8 miles. It’s December, so let’s hope the weather holds!

DAY ONE (Thursday)

Corvallis, Oregon

Long days are ahead, and we will be losing hours as we had eastward. Day one will see us pass from Pacific to Mountain time, and also from damp to dry conditions. A bundle of energy is moving into the Oregon coast overnight, and some of the light rain and fog is going to linger in the Cascades as we start the day. If we climb high enough, we will probably see some flakes as well. The moisture looks to be trapped east of the Cascades, about as far east as Juntara. If we can make it to Juntara, we will make it to clearer skies. The crossing into Idaho will be fine, as will navigating the Boise area. The drive will end in Tuttle, in southern Idaho.

DAY TWO (Friday)
The system won’t maintain it’s energy as it presses eastward, partially because of the terrain, and partly because the stronger energy is consolidating southwest of Vancouver Island. Still, there may be some valley fog in Idaho, especially early, but northern Utah and southern Wyoming are under high pressure. The day will end in Elk Mountain, Wyoming.

DAY THREE (Saturday)
As we rest in Elk Mountain, the atmosphere will be churning in the Plains. An area of low pressure will begin to emerge in western Kansas and start pulling cooler air southwards and moist air to the north. We will be chasing the precipitation by late afternoon in Nebraska, and never quite catch it, but this development will introduce some chillier temperatures. Bundle up as we conclude the day in Pleasant Dale, Nebraska, just west of Lincoln.

DAY FOUR (Sunday)
False alarm, everyone! The wet weather and what not that had been feared is going to march further east much quicker than we will. Whew! This will be the most civilization we will have seen on this trip so far, as we will pass through Omaha, Des Moines, the Quad Cities and end up in Chicago by the time the day is in. It will have rained in Chicago in the morning, and who knows if that will lead to carry over traffic concerns, but if we get too exhausted, it’s all right because South Holland, just before the Indiana line, is our destination for the evening.

DAY FIVE (Monday)
It appears as the Plains are just fixing to be active this December. Low pressure is developing in the southern Plains (again) on Monday. It will be stronger and rainier than the previous version, and a little bit further to the east. Could we catch some of it? If we do, that would be bad luck, and also, we should get out of any rain before we reach South Bend. The drive through Ohio will be dry, and we won’t have any precip problems in Pennsylvania. Maybe a lingering spot of valley fog as moisture from the initial low works it’s way into New England, but otherwise it will be unseasonably pleasant in Lancaster as we arrive.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Battle Creek, Michigan to Florence, Alabama

Michigan (and congrats to the Wolverines today) and Alabama are merely a day’s drive apart, so long as you are willing to spend about 9 hours in the car. It’s a 639 mile drive, which puts the drive at about 68mph. I-65 is a fast driving road. Michigan already played today, but Auburn and Alabama have just started. Read all about this trip as you enjoy the game!

Battle Creek, Michigan

It’s been a pretty snowy stretch for the Great Lakes, but that hasn’t translated to the Lower Peninsula. Cold air is making itself comfortable along the I-65 corridor, and in a lot of cases, that has meant clear skies. There is a weak perturbation along the Ohio River that could spit out some flurries as we drove through Kentucky, but it should be winding down as we reach the Commonwealth. Clear skies will return again as we dip into Tennessee and on to Florence.

Florence, Alabama