Traveling SUNDAY thru VA, MD, PA to NJ... should I go????

[GrillingFool]

I REALLY need to make a trip to the Parsippany NJ area this Sunday.
My travel route would be up I-95 through VA to Washington DC, then to Baltimore.

At Baltimore, I could either continue up I-95 to the Jersey Turnpike, or go North on I-83 to York Pa, then east on I-81 and I-78 into Jersey, where I'd pick up I-278 to Parsippany.

Snow for the region is predicted to be fairly heavy from VA to NJ, but ending sometime Saturday...

MY QUESTION... Do you who live in the areas think that the interstates would be clear enough to make it up there in relative safety?
I would be entering the DC area around 1 pm, probably.
I am skilled at winter driving, with a fair amount of snow and ice navigating, and would be driving a front wheel drive car... slowly, LOL!

Thanks in advance for advice!

 

[bullseye]

Who knows what the weather will do, but if you do make the trip I'd stick to the 95/turnpike route. 78 routinely gets shut down at Jugtown Mountain in slippery conditions.

 

[GB]

While you might be a skilled winter driver, the bigger concern comes from others sharing the road with you who are not as skilled. I was driving my Jeep in MA one year. It was the middle of a normal slow snowfall. It was not a major storm. There was probably about a 1/4 on the ground at the time if that. I was on a two lane road. My side was going no more than 5 miles an hour. I saw a car on the other side slowly start to lose control and fishtail. He was probably driving about 15-20 mph. It seemed like it took forever to happen as I watched it, but I knew he was going to hit me and there was nothing I could do about it. I had cars in front and behind me and no where on the side to go. I braced for impact as I watched him over correct his skid. Sure enough he plowed right into me. Thankfully it was a slow speed crash so there were no injuries. My only point in this story being that it did not matter one bit how good of a snow driver I was. It was all about how good, or bad as the case may be, the other driver was.

I do not know what the road conditions will be like in those areas. I would guess they would not be great as they are not as used to storms like this as other states might be. There WILL be idiot drivers out there though so that is a major concern you need to think about.

 

[GrillingFool]

So true, GB! Been there, done that too! Haven't been hit... yet.

 

[GB]

I hope it stays that way!

 

[GrillingFool]

Yeah, that's why I am so worried about this trip. Don't mind the thought of getting stranded overnight, or having to go 30MPH the whole way... I just don't want to get creamed (to use a cooking term, LOL)

 

[DaveSoMD]

Here is the latest forcast for the area.
National Weather Service Watch Warning Advisory Summary

It is going to depend on how well the VA/MD road crews are able to get and keep things plowed. I'd just keep checking online resources, maybe weather channel, or weather..com. It is not your skills but those of the other drivers that you have to worry about. I grew up in upstate NY and can drive in snow with out a problem, but I still stay off the roads down here because most people here do not have the experience with snow and snow covered roads. Quite frankly they scare me.