Good morning, Nutmeggers!

My family and I are driving from New London County to LaGuardia Airport early Saturday morning, after the storm dies down. I've been keeping my eyes on winds and rain, but I am inexperienced with the dangers of low temperatures. How bad of an idea is it to drive this Saturday morning, given the forecast?

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virtualchoirboy t1_j1902nh wrote on December 22, 2022 at 3:40 PM

Most of the extended hourly forecasts I see have the rain predominantly stopping around dinnertime on Friday. The trouble is that the temps are going to be plunging around the same time so if the water from the rain isn't off the roadway before the temps get too low, it can make a mess of things.

Your best bet - wake up extra early and hit up ctroads.org to check out the status of the roads. You can even get access to the highway cameras. Also do a Google Maps direction search from your home to LGA to get a rough estimate of travel time. I find Google Maps tends to be pretty good because they try to take traffic conditions into account.

silasmoeckel t1_j18vx9b wrote on December 22, 2022 at 3:11 PM

If it's not freezing it's ok, if the temps are below freezing it's a ice skating rink. Suggest looking at parking at a train station and taking that in to grand central an the shuttle to LGA from there.

Squirts_Faygojizzer t1_j196mel wrote on December 22, 2022 at 4:23 PM

You could also take Shoreline East -> New Haven, Metro North -> Grand Central, and then subway -> LGA to avoid driving altogether

santaclausisreal75 t1_j19ktpi wrote on December 22, 2022 at 5:54 PM

Probably the best idea. There was a free bus that’ll take you from LGA to Grand Central, so maybe there’s one that goes from the station to the airport?

Admirable_Ad_5034 t1_j1blnsf wrote on December 23, 2022 at 2:26 AM

Q70 LaGuardia link bus is free and takes you from jackson heights queens to the airport. Take the 7 train from grand central to Jackson heights.

mattpsu79 t1_j195cua wrote on December 22, 2022 at 4:15 PM

I don’t think icy roads are gonna be a major concern along the I-95 corridor. There’s a good chance roads will have time to dry out a bit before temps dip below freezing late afternoon/eve Friday. Even if they ice up a bit, DOT will be out treating overnight tomorrow night and I can’t imagine any major issues come Saturday morning. As always just use caution and you should be fine.

Prize-Hedgehog t1_j18y48p wrote on December 22, 2022 at 3:26 PM

On a good day with little traffic and no precipitation it’s a 2 hour drive from NL. Probably give yourself at least an additional hour in anticipation of holiday traffic and weather. A heavily traveled road like I95 will be pre treated but slow and steady you’ll be fine.

Stop_Already t1_j1aqywq wrote on December 22, 2022 at 10:35 PM

Rain stops Friday around 3-4 pm. Temps will still be above freezing. Then the temp plummets and they will be out in full force treating the roads. They can’t pretreat because the rain will wash it all away.

By the time dawn on Saturday rolls around, the roads will be perfectly fine. It’s just gonna be really freakin’ cold and traffic is going to be abysmal. The roads being icy will be a non-issue

ToDoubleD t1_j19fxl1 wrote on December 22, 2022 at 5:23 PM

Possible stupid question here - can you shut off your water main if you have a boiler and still have it provide heat (if/when the electricity kicks back on)? I guess I've always heard the heating element is a closed system, but never thought about it if it pulls in water.

TheDudeMaintains t1_j1asm3e wrote on December 22, 2022 at 10:46 PM

There should be a make-up water supply line from your domestic water source to the boiler. Most of the time, the valve on that line stays open and the water level in the system self regulates to stay within its pressure parameters. Eventually, you'll lose some water out of the system and it will need a little make-up water.