We are going to be traveling to MT in early December, and I am wondering if it is better to take I80 to I15 or I70 to I15 at that time of the year. Normally we travel to MT during the summer and go through SD on I90, but I am not taking chances on getting stopped by roads being closed because of wind and snow.

Grandpere wrote:We are going to be traveling to MT in early December, and I am wondering if it is better to take I80 to I15 or I70 to I15 at that time of the year. Normally we travel to MT during the summer and go through SD on I90, but I am not taking chances on getting stopped by roads being closed because of wind and snow.Toss the dice. It's all going to be dependent on the weather, not just on I-90. I-80 across Wyoming? Not for the faint of heart during a snow storm sweeping in from the north. And the wind is...fierce...on a good day. On a bad day, it's downright dangerous. One of the scariest drives I've ever taken was returning from Laramie to Cheyenne in a blizzard, having the road being closed behind me, and going into "lockdown" in Cheyenne once we got there..for 3 days. I-70 from the Plains to the Rockies, while further south, can experience the same winds and snow conditions as in Wyoming, though not quite as fierce. And getting through the mountains is really a matter of timing your trip between storms. And there will be storms. Regularly. TIMING IS EVERYTHING! You could also experience no problems at all. WYODOT and CDOT work hard in their respective states to get their Interstates reopened. But at least for Colorado, December is one of our snowiest months.

Thanks Thom02099 I appreciate your insight into I80, sounds like we will travel I70. Being from MT I can deal with snow, it is the wind that I despise. Highway 2 in Montana has its fair share of wind and snow and I have driven it enough to know what to expect, hence my desire to minimize the snow/wind combination.

I can only echo the good advice given so far.As Thom said, timing is the critical element. Watch the storm forecasts and look for a window of opportunity where you can scoot through those problematic areas between storms. Traveling between Texas and North Dakota over Christmas few years back I did just that, staying in Texas a few extra days to allow a storm system to pass through the Great Plains before I headed north. And I had no problems getting back to North Dakota. But I could surely see the evidence of the previous storm piled all along the roads on the way home.

The worst area on I-80 is from Rawlins to Cheyenne. The wind can get really bad.

Drove through a blizzard, blowing wind and white out conditions from Rock Springs to Cheyenne January 2014...my husband driving his truck and me following in my car behind. I could barely see the back of his truck.I was terrified, semi-trucks jack knifed all over the place, car wrecks. Not many places to get off the road. We got behind a semi and went 25 mph for 8 hours. I thought my arms were going to fall off holding on to the steering wheel! I never want to drive through there again. The ruts were like driving on frozen railroad tracks.Just when you think it will clear up you get blasted with wind and blowing snow across the freeway you cannot see the road. A miracle we made it.

I70 vs I80 in early December | Good Sam Community

15 Replies

Veebyes
Explorer II
Nov 12, 2014
WyoTraveler wrote:
The worst area on I-80 is from Rawlins to Cheyenne. The wind can get really bad.

Ain't that the truth! Lost our 5th wheel to a blowover at Elk Mountain, 2009.
The_Mad_Norsky
Explorer
Nov 09, 2014
Well if it makes you feel any better, SD has not changed too much.

Mind you I've only been here 6 years. It seems like I-90 is about the north/south cut off point for bad winter weather the last few years. Along and north they get plastered. I am south of I-90 about oh 50 some odd miles and we seem to miss all those storms.

Mind you, I-90 in parts of South Dakota is running through some pretty sparsely populated areas. Wyoming is even worse. It is no place to be with a storm bearing down on you.

Like I said previously, timing the trip to let a storm pass, then scooting through before the next one is about the best one can do.
Grandpere
Explorer
Nov 09, 2014
newk wrote:
If it was me taking the trip, I certainly wouldn't rule out I-90. My guess is that it has fewer weather problems than I-70 or I-80. I live just off of I-90 in eastern Wyoming, and it's not closed often in Wyoming. My family lives in Iowa, and I drove I-90 to and from there (dropping down on I-29) dozens of times during Dec. and never had a problem. There was ONE January trip that was bad, but that was partly due to car problems. (Roads were closed east of Wall, forcing us to stay there one night, then the car broke down the next day, forcing us to stay in Chamberlain for a few days awaiting a part.)

I'm pretty sure it doesn't close as often as I-80 (winds aren't as bad), and I-70 west of Denver can be a bear even when it's open.

Any of them can close, but I'd look at the weather picture before ruling out any of them.

Wyoming was not my main concern, it is South Dakota--where the snow doesn't melt it just blows around until it wears out LOL--we lived in SD for several years and white outs and roads closed were all tooooo common for my liking and I do not want to be stopped and then have to dig the MH out of a drift before continuing on.
Grandpere
Explorer
Nov 09, 2014
Thom02099 wrote:
Grandpere wrote:
Thanks all, seems to be a consensus that I70 is the better route to take to I25.

Did you mean I-25 or I-15?? Your original post indicated you were going over to I-15. Are you now planning on taking I-25 north from I-70?

Sorry, typo I meant I15
newk
Explorer
Nov 09, 2014
If it was me taking the trip, I certainly wouldn't rule out I-90. My guess is that it has fewer weather problems than I-70 or I-80. I live just off of I-90 in eastern Wyoming, and it's not closed often in Wyoming. My family lives in Iowa, and I drove I-90 to and from there (dropping down on I-29) dozens of times during Dec. and never had a problem. There was ONE January trip that was bad, but that was partly due to car problems. (Roads were closed east of Wall, forcing us to stay there one night, then the car broke down the next day, forcing us to stay in Chamberlain for a few days awaiting a part.)

I'm pretty sure it doesn't close as often as I-80 (winds aren't as bad), and I-70 west of Denver can be a bear even when it's open.

Any of them can close, but I'd look at the weather picture before ruling out any of them.
Thom02099
Explorer II
Nov 07, 2014
Grandpere wrote:
Thanks all, seems to be a consensus that I70 is the better route to take to I25.

Did you mean I-25 or I-15?? Your original post indicated you were going over to I-15. Are you now planning on taking I-25 north from I-70?
edm3rd
Explorer
Nov 07, 2014
Try to avoid I-70 west of Denver on Fridays and Sundays, tons of traffic to/from resort areas.
Grandpere
Explorer
Nov 07, 2014
Thanks all, seems to be a consensus that I70 is the better route to take to I25.
john_bet
Explorer II
Nov 07, 2014
I would take a look at the weather reports just before time to leave ,then decided which way. In Dec. of '12 we drove to Great Falls from Indiana for Christmas. Had to use I-70 because I-80 was closed in Iowa due to snow. Used US-385 in Col. to I-80 to I-25 to I-90 to Billings then cross country to Great Falls. Used I-90 and I-80 to I-74 andI-65 to home.
Sifter
Explorer
Nov 06, 2014
We are getting ready to take a similar trip from Missouri to Idaho via I-80 over Thanksgiving and are also hoping weather holds out. The wind isn't fun while pulling a 30ft trailer.