Kelown Bc to Las Vegas In February

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muskoka guy

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Oct 15, 2012
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MUSKOKA ONTARIO
We are planning a trip in mid February from Kelowna BC, to Las Vegas. We did the same trip last year, but we went through the Columbia Gorge and down the coast through California. We thought about staying in the interior this year. Anyone traveled this route in February. We will be driving a 40 ft mh pulling a toad.Any thoughts or places to see would be appreciated. Thanks
 
Taking your time and sightseeing in route from Canada to AZ to Las Vegas how well does your rig handle 0 degree F. temps.  Chains for snow & ice?

If you take the most direct route, US-97 to I-84 to Salt Lake City, and I-15 to Las Vegas you have a very good chance of not having snow. Be sure to keep a close eye on the winter storms though. There are chances you will have to spend 2-4 days waiting out winter weather.  If you watch the 3 day forecast you can probably  anticipate the bad weather and pick a lower elevation area to wait out the storms so your night time lows only get into the 10-15F, hopefully warmer, range . 

Weather Underground has a historical monthly calendar display going back 20-30 years where you can see the actual daily temps for any month/year you select.  Here is an example for Twin Falls, ID:  https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KTWF/2017/2/16/MonthlyCalendar.html?req_city=&req_state=&req_statename=&reqdb.zip=&reqdb.magic=&reqdb.wmo=  To see other cities in the history calendar, search for the city in Weather Underground and on the opening page, click on "calendar" the then enter the month and year you want history for. 

There is always a chance you could get stuck in -0F temps. 

 
I don't think I would chance an interior route to Vegas. I live 4 1/2 hrs south of you in Wenatche,Wa, so have similar weather to you. My son lives straight down highway 97 in Klamath Falls, Or. He drives here at Christmas time usually having pretty snowy roads. I think for an enjoyable view I would drive down 101 on the Oregon coast.
 
Thank you for the replies. The reason we took the coastal route last year was to get to the warmer weather so the coach water system was safe. Im taking from what you are saying that that will not be the case on the interior at that time of year. I will check out the link as well. We might have to alter our plans. Thanks again.
 
muskoka guy said:
Thank you for the replies. The reason we took the coastal route last year was to get to the warmer weather so the coach water system was safe. Im taking from what you are saying that that will not be the case on the interior at that time of year. I will check out the link as well. We might have to alter our plans. Thanks again.
What make/model of RV do you have.  Most 40' MH's have heated holding tanks.  For the outside accessible water compartments, as long as you have elect hookups, put a trouble light with a 60 watt incandescent light bulb in the compartment.  That will keep it warm down to around 0* F.  Or if you don't have hookups, run your generator. 

Trouble/work light:  https://www.amazon.com/Bayco-Trouble-Light-25-Foot-SL-425/dp/B000256R14/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1505664845&sr=8-4&keywords=trouble+light

Interstate roads are usually snow and ice free except for during or right after a winter storm.  There is some high country just east of Pendelton, OR and then there are a couple of passes that are not too high, on I-84 from where it turns SE towards SLC to SLC that can have snow when the lower land is just rain.

No matter which way you go you pretty much have to go down hwy 97 to I-84.  Once you get to I-84 you should be in good shape except for the cold.    I read that Osoyoos is fairly warm and has snow birds coming there from the plains area in Canada so I wouldn't think US-97 in WA would be to bad down to I-84.  I don't know what is like going over to Vancouver in Canada from Kelowa.
 
I do and it can be difficult in winter conditions. There is a serious climb out of Kelowna and another out of Merritt, weather conditions change quickly. Winter tires or chains are mandatory.
 
muskoka guy said:
Thank you for the replies. The reason we took the coastal route last year was to get to the warmer weather so the coach water system was safe. Im taking from what you are saying that that will not be the case on the interior at that time of year. I will check out the link as well. We might have to alter our plans. Thanks again.

Eastern WA.......cold!!
Eastern OR.....cold!!
Eastern CA..cold!!
Northern NV......cold!!
Tonopah NV......cold!!
Las Vegas......ahhhhhh. (but it can get well below freezing some nights)

So yes, were saying it's cold in the interior.
 
Thanks again for the input. We are just in the planning stages, so lots of options yet. We are from Ontario, so we may not start from Kelowna this year. My friends daughter lives there, and he went out in November last year. We are just looking for options. We did the west coast route last year, but with all the rain we had to miss parts of the trip we wanted to see. Dont think we will go that way this year. He may just fly to Kelowna and back to Ontario and start from here. We are not too eager to tackle mountain passes in February. I thought maybe there might be a low route between the two mountain ranges. We hit freezing rain in the higher hills in Washington last year, and all the passes to the west coast were closed due to excessive snow fall including the pass from Kelowna to Vancouver. Thanks again. Love the forum. Just ask and you will soon know if a plan is good or bad.
 
muskoka guy said:
Thanks again for the input. We are just in the planning stages, so lots of options yet. We are from Ontario, so we may not start from Kelowna this year. My friends daughter lives there, and he went out in November last year. We are just looking for options. We did the west coast route last year, but with all the rain we had to miss parts of the trip we wanted to see. Dont think we will go that way this year. He may just fly to Kelowna and back to Ontario and start from here. We are not too eager to tackle mountain passes in February. I thought maybe there might be a low route between the two mountain ranges. We hit freezing rain in the higher hills in Washington last year, and all the passes to the west coast were closed due to excessive snow fall including the pass from Kelowna to Vancouver. Thanks again. Love the forum. Just ask and you will soon know if a plan is good or bad.
Don't overlook the fact the the mountains in the western USA had an unusual amount of snow and rain last year.  Will that repeat this winter?  I'll let you know in May, 2018.  :)

The lowest interior route that I know of is I-84 and I-15. 
 
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