# Driving under storm warning?



## Guest (Oct 27, 2009)

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask about driving. I'll be driving to summit county tomorrow during the day (from I-70 KS). It seems there's a major snow storm warning until Thursday. I've driven the east side of Denver a few times where things get very hilly. I don't know if it's a good idea to drive during that warning time or not. 

From your experience, what are road conditions likely?

National Weather Service Watch Warning Advisory Summary


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## earl_je (Oct 20, 2009)

I do this all the time. Driving a 4wd helps a lot since you'll do a lot of uphill climbs, FWD is fine as long as you go slow. If you have RWD, I wouldnt even dare (yes we tried this and almost died, lol) People around Summit are so used to driving in winter conditions its actually scary. Just be on the slow lane, drive slow and you should be fine. On sudden wind gusts, slow down even more, just be mindful of the car behind you all the time. 

Have extra blankets and food "incase shit happens". Like what I always say, its wasn't you, it was the other guy


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

You should be ok, at least until you hit the mountains. The storm isn't really supposed to hit Denver and plains until Wednesday night. If anything get a very early start so you can make most if not all of the drive during daylight hours. The mountains could be getting hit pretty hard late in the day, but 70 is a well plowed road up there. Then again, since all of the weather guys are calling for this to be a big storm, it'll probably end up being more like a fart in the sand...


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## daysailer1 (Nov 9, 2007)

+1

Once you get off I-70, the road conditions may change. The storm on Closing Weekend last season kept Berthoud Pass closed for 1.5 days. Let me tell you that powder was fine at WP. It lasted a long time too.


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## Guest (Oct 27, 2009)

That makes me feel a lot better. If I canceled the trip, my son would have been heart-broken! I'll be extra-careful.


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## AWNOW (Sep 12, 2009)

When it gets super sketchy on any mountain roads, I just pop in some Marley, lean back, relax and drive 10 mph slower in the appropriate lane. Get there slower, but I would rather be 15 minutes late then have thousands of dollars in body damage to my car + getting stuck in a ditch. No reason to try to be like all the idiots going 90 mph in a blizzard down 70.

EDIT: One thing I will add though is if you are on a single lane road on a mountain pass with people behind you, pull the hell over and let them pass. Likewise, if you are going up a steep incline you need to keep your speed, because large trucks and FWD cars must accelerate to get up them. Nothing worse than someone going 15mph when they could safely be doing 30 mph in a 50mph and you are starting to stall out behind them.


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## daysailer1 (Nov 9, 2007)

Get 5 cars behind you = pull over. I usually pull over for three. If I get one really aggressive a-hole behind me, I pull over. Not worth the annoyance. If I see them stuck in the ditch later, I don't pull over. There can be lots of ding-dong aggresive drivers coming out of Denver and going over Berthoud. The cops in Empire and the ones on the bottom of Berthoud love'em.


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## shutupandride (Oct 6, 2009)

I spend the summer months as a driving instructor for a couple of high performance driving schools and clubs. There are some general rules that are often over looked when driving in snow. Firstly; good snow tires are GREAT in the snow. If some one passes you going considerably faster in the snow it is usually because they have good snow tires. The car will not only go but it will corner and stop as well. Secondly; if your car has ABS, FORGET the old adage about pumping the brakes! Many accidents occur because people start pumping the brakes in ABS equipped cars. Press as hard as you can and let the ABS do its thing. The pedal will shake violently and make a racket but it is supposed to do that...press harder when it kicks in! Thirdly; AWD only allows you to get going. AWD cars, SUV & trucks DO NOT corner or stop better than front or rear wheel drive cars. Stopping and cornering is, largely, a function of the tires (other things like differential functioning, driven wheels and throttle input also have some effect). So if you have all season tires on your AWD Subi or Audi you may be able to get going but stopping will be a bitch! At the same time a rear wheel drive car with good snow tires will actually do pretty well with all three aspects of vehicle dynamics (starting cornering and stopping). 

HTH

BE safe!


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## daysailer1 (Nov 9, 2007)

shutupandride said:


> I spend the summer months as a driving instructor for a couple of high performance driving schools and clubs. There are some general rules that are often over looked when driving in snow.
> 
> HTH
> 
> BE safe!


Avalanches trump everything. Avalanche sends travelers tumbling - USATODAY.com I talked to Dave Boon on a lift at WP exactly one year later to the day. The cars didn't fare too well.


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## cstrumol (Sep 28, 2009)

This is true. I have a FWD it feels liek a tank in the snow with some blizzaks on there. Getting going needs some finess of the clutch/gas but turns and braking feel real solid. If it gets really crazy, I always have a set of chains in the trunk but laws vary by state on using them. They are a cheap investment compared to the headache you could have if stranded.


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## Guest (Oct 27, 2009)

daysailer1 said:


> Avalanches trump everything. Avalanche sends travelers tumbling - USATODAY.com I talked to Dave Boon on a lift at WP exactly one year later to the day. The cars didn't fare too well.


Yikes. That car looks like the exact same car I'll be driving tomorrow (Red prius???).


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## daysailer1 (Nov 9, 2007)

Big red minivan. Ellen DeGeneres gave them a new one a few weeks later on her show. Dave Boon and family was in a small car though. It got totalled. He was just happy to be alive and everyone was safe. Ellen didn't give him a new car though. He's local, the poor Iowa family wasn't.

I have to drive through this avalanche zone every time I drive to work. I haven't made it to work sometimes. You should see the howitzer they use to blast Stanley with. It's impressive. The winds can easy blow 80mph up there and can really rock your vehicle around. I have an SUV w 4WD and I don't take anything for granted.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

No matter what resort you are driving to, (with the exception of maybe Eldora) you are going to cross quite a few avalanche paths. There are at least 6 I can think of over Berthoud. Four to five off the top of my head on I70, but their are probably more than that. Loveland Pass is even worse. 

The Stanely slide path avalanche was an interesting one. Cost me an eight hour drive home as I was riding on the pass that day. On the way up my partner and I looked up at the path before driving up the pass and talked about how wind loaded it looked. 5-6 hours later it went...


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## daysailer1 (Nov 9, 2007)

killclimbz said:


> Loveland Pass is even worse.


Someone I know on ski patrol at Loveland Ski Area even took out his own car one day as it sat in the Loveland parking lot. They shot, it slid, it slid further than they planned. It took out a bunch of ski-doo's, a shuttle bus, and a car. He was so proud that the radio still worked in it month's later when it still sat flattened in the parking lot. The run the slide created is now unofficially called "Pip's Run". :laugh:


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## earl_je (Oct 20, 2009)

just got word storm might be coming in a little later than expected. Itt traveling towards the northeast and that usually means worse in the NE plains. One way or the other, you'll be driving through it. They plow the roads frequently, so you should be fine. If you know someone that has tire chains, borrow from them, they arent sure how much snow we'll get so they might require it randomly.


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## tomtom88 (Nov 13, 2008)

I've heard estimates of 14"-16" for the vail area. Just be prepared to pull over a bit for road closures. I'm not saying they will happen, but when you have a storm that will dump that mouch in approx. 24hrs it's possible.


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## unfmoose (Jun 23, 2009)

So this is nowhere near I70, But I drove to Gunnison from Montrose today and back. There 3 cars off the road in a 15 mile section between Blue Mesa Summit and Blue Mesa Lake. One was fine, the second car dropped 20-30 feet and landed on its side, and the last one spun and when it hit the shoulder it flipped at least once. I passed all of them right after they happened. Be careful out there...


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## earl_je (Oct 20, 2009)

once again, make sure have have lots of extra blankets and food! several cellphones fully charged is helpful... think: Better to have and not need, than to need and not have!


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