How do I check winter weather road conditions?
December 19, 2016 11:52 AM   Subscribe

I am driving from North Carolina to Indiana for a few days around Christmas, but I happen to be blessed with a not-entirely-rational fear of winter weather on roads. How can I make sure before I embark that I won't be encountering any?

Is there some website where I can just enter my route and it displays the conditions along the way? I really don't care about construction, tolls or anything else.
posted by bologna on wry to Travel & Transportation (7 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Accuweather driving directions. Just used it last week to drive from Northern to Southern California.

Obviously it can only do so much, though. That's a long drive and conditions change. You might find out in advance if you're going to be dealing with any mountain passes, for example, where the weather can be more unpredictable than at lower elevations, and see if the state in which they are located has a text alert system for conditions and warnings.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:27 PM on December 19, 2016 [1 favorite]


http://www.weather.gov/gjt/road_conditions
posted by COD at 12:28 PM on December 19, 2016


If I was really worried about it, I would check with the applicable State Departments of Transportation for the most current and detailed info.
posted by humboldt32 at 1:17 PM on December 19, 2016 [2 favorites]


Weather Underground used to have a feature that did this, but it seems to have disappeared. You can, however, get a US map of severe weather conditions. Colored areas have some sort of National Weather Service advisory, watch, or warning in effect; and you can click on them to find out the details and (importantly) the timing.

Depending on the conditions, you may be able to avoid the worst of the winter weather by driving west via Asheville, NC and Knoxville, TN and then heading north from there. This would add an hour & change onto your journey, but it might allow you to avoid a snowstorm that's dumping on West Virginia. (However, as of this writing this wouldn't be good advice; the mountainous stretch of I-40 is apparently experiencing rime ice.)
posted by Johnny Assay at 1:58 PM on December 19, 2016


This site is specifically for Virginia (don't know if your route will take you through there), but I'm sure there are similar sites for other states. Let's you know about weather, traffic, construction, and even traffic cams...

Virginia 511
posted by kuanes at 4:42 PM on December 19, 2016


IcyRoadSafety.com has links to road conditions for every state.

Also, that whole website and its "online course" (series of articles & videos) is highly useful for driving in icy/snowy conditions.
posted by danceswithlight at 6:33 PM on December 19, 2016 [1 favorite]


If you take Johnny Assay's advice (which I absolutely would if your route even remotely involves the West Virginia turnpike!), here's Kentucky's road conditions site.
posted by The Almighty Mommy Goddess at 9:58 AM on December 20, 2016


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