There’s some bitter cold forecasted for a large portion of the Rocky Mountain West and the western plains the latter part of the week, but after the arctic front passes things improve for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Next week looks pretty good too. All that to say, looks like you’ll likely make the drive without weather being a big factor.

Good to know. Thinking I'll get a few hours sleep & roll out around 4am tomorrow morning.

Est 14.5hrs, probably add a bit for stops & any possible weather, but majority daytime driving.

I would start ASAP. my wife just texted me the forecast and they are calling for "life threatening wind gusts/chill of -60 degress(not a typo) across the eastern plains". I would not go the kansas route as that's where the winds will be worst. Supposed to be around 5pm or so and they say the temps could drop 30 degrees in an hour. I would try to get where you are going before then, at least a couple hours.
We have many idiots here who will drive until the last second and then crash in the ditch taking lots of people with them. Emergency services will be busy all night. I would go the raton pass way and have a couple of backup plans in case it goes south quicker than expected. They are only calling for 2-5 inches, but the wind and blowing snow and extreme cold are gonna make it dangerous.
Pack your car as if you might spend some time in it, or have to walk somewhere. Drive as far as you can before you start to see the change, and then get gas every half tank or less. There are plenty of towns and gas stations between raton and denver, make use of them and get off the roads if it's starts looking bad. Don't get caught in a blizzard with falling temps and less than a half tank of gas.

^ Thanks, do you think Raton would better than Dallas to Amarillo then north to 70?

We're going to get as early of a start tomorrow as we can be rested enough for. Plan is 4am, but maybe earlier if we can get the truck loaded & get some shut-eye for a couple hours.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
^ Thanks, do you think Raton would better than Dallas to Amarillo then north to 70?

We're going to get as early of a start tomorrow as we can be rested enough for. Plan is 4am, but maybe earlier if we can get the truck loaded & get some shut-eye for a couple hours.

Yeah definitely. There is nothing for miles and miles Amarillo north to 70. You are in no mans land, and with wind chills down to -60 there is no where to seek shelter. Take the Raton, I25 route. There is a lot of safety if the weather comes sooner, lots of places to pull off and get a hotel. Lots of gas and lots of people.
With strong wind gusts, you don't want to be stuck on a 2 lane highway with Semi trucks who will be going slow because of the wind, on the North Route to 70. Stick with the well travelled and well patrolled routes.

Ok, I think everyone has you covered on weather. All I can add, is if you choose the 287 route from Dallas to Amarillo, DO NOT SPEED through Estelline, TX. It is one of the worst speed traps known to man. It is about 15 miles on the west side of Childress passing into the panhandle on the way to Amarillo. Have family and spent a lot of time in that general area growing up. It may be better now, but it was no joke the way they funded the "town" with fines from traffic violations.

Take care, and safe travels.

How's the drive going? The wind has really picked up and the temps are dropping just south of denver. Right on time at 1700.

Ya, looking for an update.

Heavy fog the first 1.5hrs
Smooth sailing through Wichita Falls, was down to 29 but dry.
Got up to 59 by Amarillo

We took the route north to I70. No problems until sunset when the wind set in. Not terrible & manageable.
Snow started shortly after we got on 70.

17 hrs door to door, with stops for food/fuel.

Glad to hear it!

Glad to hear of a successful outcome.

flashguy

Running around the Brighton CO area today, cold & snowy (on the ground).
Apart from needing air in the tires, the truck is running great up here.

Forecast shows no more snow due until after we're gone on Monday.

Round trip success.
Colorado - Your state is beautiful, but no way I could live there.

Overall, the drive was pretty uneventful.
Couple hours of fog on the drive out, followed by high winds then snow the last couple hours.

We drove up to Greeley & Estes Park. Lovely drive through the canyon area up to Estes. Had to stop at a gas station to clear the muck off the headlights after dark.

Drove down to Canon City on Christmas Eve to do the Polar Express train. Other than having frozen windshield washers & reduced visibility through Denver, not a bad drive.

The drive home, temps were a bit better, but still a lot of snow on the ground. Got more snow falling when we got onto I70 & the left lane was snowed over, so no one was driving there.
Snow stopped but roads were still snowy/slick all the way to Lamar. After that, uneventful the rest of the run to Houston.

Truck was a mess, between the road crud all over it & the combination of wet/snow/mud feet, and kids with road snacks. Glad we have Weathertech mats.

2 runs through a Quick Quack yesterday & the outside is about 95% back to normal.
Still need to pull the mats out & hose them off.

Once we were home, and this is a bit better than it was when we got back to my parent's place after Canon City.



After 2 runs through QQ wash.