Storage below the snow belt
New to RVing. Previously a sailboat cruiser. I have bought a 36' ClassA. We have camped within a 3 hour radius of home (Ottawa, Canada) this summer and I am getting fairly comfortable with driving m...
Forum Discussion
For beyond all expectation of snow (or ice and freezing rain, on the Atlantic side of the Appalachians) that would be somewhere south of Atlanta.
To (almost) guarantee "above freezing" in February (or between October and May) you need to go as far as South Florida, probably the "warmer places" you are talking about. But you don't really need to be in a frost-free zone for storage, dry winterizing is adequate for those places that occasionally or rarely get below freezing.
Once you get south of Atlanta on the I-75 corridor, or south of D.C. on the I-95 corridor, frozen water road conditions are fairly rare, and you will not likely be driving on them, because the roads will be closed until the ice melts. North of Atlanta on the I-75 corridor, and on the Interstate highways crossing through the Appalachians, winter road conditions are more frequent but the are cleared quickly, because the states have the equipment to do the job.
Other issues, a one-month stay February in a South Florida RV resort may be pretty difficult to book, most winter visitors are there 3-5 months and February is at the peak of that season when the early folks and the late folks overlap, keeping parks full. You need to decide on a destination and make your reservations now, if you didn't do so sooner.
If you are thinking about South Texas, rather than South Florida, finding a place is not so critical, and storage anywhere south of Dallas would probably work out fine. Coming from a climate like Ottawa, you probably don't even need a place much warmer. Austin to San Antonio, and Texas Hill Country to the west, often are as warm in February as is July north of the Great Lakes, except for the occasional Arctic air mass pushing in from the Great Plains. The Texas Coastal Plain, from San Antonio east to the Gulf Coast, is more consistently warm through the winter, but more likely to see rain, including thunderstorms.
To (almost) guarantee "above freezing" in February (or between October and May) you need to go as far as South Florida, probably the "warmer places" you are talking about. But you don't really need to be in a frost-free zone for storage, dry winterizing is adequate for those places that occasionally or rarely get below freezing.
Once you get south of Atlanta on the I-75 corridor, or south of D.C. on the I-95 corridor, frozen water road conditions are fairly rare, and you will not likely be driving on them, because the roads will be closed until the ice melts. North of Atlanta on the I-75 corridor, and on the Interstate highways crossing through the Appalachians, winter road conditions are more frequent but the are cleared quickly, because the states have the equipment to do the job.
Other issues, a one-month stay February in a South Florida RV resort may be pretty difficult to book, most winter visitors are there 3-5 months and February is at the peak of that season when the early folks and the late folks overlap, keeping parks full. You need to decide on a destination and make your reservations now, if you didn't do so sooner.
If you are thinking about South Texas, rather than South Florida, finding a place is not so critical, and storage anywhere south of Dallas would probably work out fine. Coming from a climate like Ottawa, you probably don't even need a place much warmer. Austin to San Antonio, and Texas Hill Country to the west, often are as warm in February as is July north of the Great Lakes, except for the occasional Arctic air mass pushing in from the Great Plains. The Texas Coastal Plain, from San Antonio east to the Gulf Coast, is more consistently warm through the winter, but more likely to see rain, including thunderstorms.
