Weather on December drive

[mAlien13]

We are planning a Decemebr trip to DLR. We drove from Vancouver, WA in April, which was a lot of fun, and just went straight down I-5. Right now, we are not sure if we should follow the same path or head over to the Oregon coast, follow 101 down to San Francisco and then cut back to I-5 in order to avoid bad weather. Does anyone have an opinion on which route will give us the least chance of dealing with ice?

 

[disneegrl4eva]

we are not sure if we should follow the same path or head over to the Oregon coast, follow 101 down to San Francisco and then cut back to I-5 in order to avoid bad weather.

thats the one I would do...that way the only problem I think you may encounter is going over the grapevine...depending on how cold it is you might have to deal with snow...my recommendation to you is that irregardless of the day you are going, make sure that you dont hit the grapevine until at least mid morning to avoid possible shutdowns on the grapevine and trust me they shut it down if it gets too bad...I went over it at Thanksgiving and Christmas last year no problem...but this year in March, there was snow and ice...so its a hit and miss

 

[mAlien13]

Thanks for the reply.

Just for clarification, when you say 'over the Grapevine', you mean the mountain you go up and over after Buttonwillow before Castaic? We drove over it in late April, and it was very cold and foggy. Interestingly, the weather bureau says it snowed that day, although we saw no sign of it.
I wonder if it snows there more in early or late winter? In any case, snow doesn't bother me, only ice. We will def time it to get there mid-morning or later.

 

[Captjackson]

If ice/snow over the Grapevine is a concern, you could take 101 all the way into Anaheim.
Last February we drove from Portland to Disneyland. It was I-5 all the way down. We had some slush between Medford and the CA border on the way down. Other than that (and some heavy fog over the grapevine) we had no travel problems. OTOH, a week or so before, they were requiring traction devices over the southern Oregon passes.

 

[mAlien13]

TYVM for the info and suggestions. It looks like we are going to go ahead and cut over to I-5 from San Fransisco, to save time. I'm not concerned enough about ice to add more to the length of the trip. Unless a storm hits, I think we will be okay if we hit it in the afternoon, like disneegrl4eva suggested. What we will do is watch the weather as it gets closer, and we can adjust our drive according to the weather. My main point with this post was to find out if the way from San Fransisco to Anaheim is always icey and snowy in the winter.

Thanks again

 

[daannzzz]

Since my Ma and Pa moved up to Shelton Wa. and my Sisters moved to Lake Oswego we have done quite a bit of traveling over Siskyou (s) pass during all times of the year. We have been lucky over the years that we have never gotten stuck from bad weather. There have baan a few times it was a hair snowy and slushy but I didn't need chains. Pop has had to put chains on a couple of times. But anytime I travel up there between Novemeber and March I keep a close eye on the weather and am prepared to head over to 101 and go up that way if I have to.

 

[Dis Ohana]

My main point with this post was to find out if the way from San Fransisco to Anaheim is always icey and snowy in the winter.

Thanks again

I'm a little confused. We're planning on driving from Anaheim to SF along Highway 1 in winter. Our backup plan in case of bad weather was to drive Hwy 101 to SF. I thought the weather along this route was relatively mild and easy to drive, I really don't want to be trying to do it if the roads will be icey.

 

[daannzzz]

Anaheim to SF on 101 should be fine. I have never hit snow or slush (doesn't mean it hasn't happened) on this route in the winter. I have hit pretty heavy snow going over the grapevine though. Luckily a nice aggresive girl from Minnesota was driving and we got through while everyone else pulled off except a couple of truckers. Highway 1 could get a bit nasty IF there were recent storms.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Thanks for the reply.

Just for clarification, when you say 'over the Grapevine', you mean the mountain you go up and over after Buttonwillow before Castaic? We drove over it in late April, and it was very cold and foggy. Interestingly, the weather bureau says it snowed that day, although we saw no sign of it.
I wonder if it snows there more in early or late winter? In any case, snow doesn't bother me, only ice. We will def time it to get there mid-morning or later.

yep thats what I meant