Los Angeles to Flagstaff - driving conditions
 

Hello all,

I have been trying to find out the potential driving conditions (snow? ice?) from Los Angeles to Flagstaff at the end of this month. Yes, in other words, the next few days.

I've tried doing a search on the internet. I've looked at CalTrans, weather forecasts, Google maps, etc. but can't get a good handle on what to expect. I thought I might be able to get my answer here instead. :-)

I am considering driving to see my son play basketball in Flagstaff on New Year's Eve, but I definitely want to avoid winding, mountainous, icy roads. Winding and mountainous are okay, but without snow or ice. If that's a possibility, then it's a "no go" for me.

Thanks!

If a storm hits then there can be snow and ice on the freeways for a day or so, but it is usually cleared off pretty quick. Otherwise the roads are normally clear and dry even in the winter.

The forecast for Flagstaff (highest elevation on your route so most likely to have snow) says a "few snow showers" on the 28th - 30th, then clear. So you *might* hit some road problems, you might not.

There are no "winding, mountainous" roads (at least not like in the mountains where there are high passes), but enough downhill and uphill grades that if there is ice then I-40 east and west of Flag is sometimes closed due to pileups.

Here are the links for CA and AZ highway conditions:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/Hourly
http://www.az511.com/hcrsweb/hcrsweb.jsp

Personally I'd drive this route in a standard 4-WD vechicle in the daytime if possible, but would be very wary of driving at night, when ice is more likely to form and is very difficult to see.

Ive been caught in a flagstaff freeway closure, they had about 6 inches of snow & the freeway was shut down for 2 hrs. Ice shouldnt be bad as they should salt/sand the freeway if thats an issue. Its a pretty easy drive even with a little weather

To be extra safe, just check the hr by hr forecast and go plan on traveling when the temps are 36 or above

Just checked the forecast for Flagstaff again and after the "few snow showers" on the 30th it's supposed to clear up, with sunny or mostly sunny skies. So if the weather predictions hold up then you should be OK as this is a short, light storm.

Here are a couple of links to the problems that occur when a big storm hits ...

This happened last week, Dec 22 ... Williams is west of Flagstaff.
http://www.azfamily.com/video/featur...-79943102.html

"Interstate 40's eastbound lanes from Ash Fork to Williams were shut down on Tuesday afternoon after heavy snow and whiteout conditions triggered several wrecks"

This is a really bad one from March, 2008, with a couple of deaths and the road shut most of the day:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...on.html?&wired

"Interstate 40 re-opened around 5 a.m. Monday after at least two people were killed Sunday afternoon in a series of collisions that involved as many as 140 vehicles and shut down a 20-mile stretch of the freeway west of Flagstaff."

http://www.safetravelusa.com/

Maybe this will help but remember no one can predict the wx 100% of the time.

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate all the info and the links.

Bill, I saw the report about the 100+ car pileup with fatalities in 2008, but it seemed like that was a freak occurence since I didn't find any other similar reports. Your link from last week, however, was the deciding factor. Even though the weather may turn out to be fine, I think I won't take a chance. I'm not a snow experienced driver and I'd be going by myself, so I think I'm better off passing on this trip.

Thanks again everyone!