219 from Ridgway to Bradford can get real fun in the winter time.

I’d take 81 to 15 to Buffalo.

I-81 is gonna be closed by tomorrow morning. Already has a CMV restriction on it all the way up to I-80 from the MD line.

Your living room with a beer.

Thanks for the input. Looking at the other reply to your comment I'm guessing I'm probably just boned.

Trying to get back home!

Just by looking where it's supposed to be bad, might be worth diverting a bit west, going up 79 to 90

100% is open by Friday

Looks like it currently. As long as the storm doesn't get hung up on the mountains and decide to stick around for a bit.

I’ve made the trip many times. Key thing is to look at the weather radar and go where it isn’t snowing.

Taking US-15 north from Harrisburg to I-390 is a good route. On 390 you can take NY 63 to Batavia and I-90 to BUF. Alternatively you can take 390 to 90 to BUF.

LAKE EFFECT SNOW IS NOT TO BE MESSED WITH. Use your radar app and navigate away from the bands. Or stay home. (I was blown and raised in Tonawanda NY)

Head to 64, to RT20, to RT19, then 79 will take you all the way to 90.

79 will be boring and mostly straight north of Pittsburgh, 90 from Erie to Buffalo is the same. Fill up with gas before you get to PA to save yourself to 60 cents a gallon.

Weather looks clear here in Erie through Sunday afternoon.

Check out an app called On The Way, or a handful of others for weather on route. Quite handy for seeing weather based on route and time of departure

Well, there's I-68, instead of the turnpike...but that is all rolling hills. I think your best bet is to take US 219 up and taking your time on parts is ideal. Good luck and have fun! Watching the Bills game?

I'm assuming you'll be sitting in traffic for hours, maybe wait til Sat

Might just want to head south on 95 to Fla. and call it a long weekend 🙂

>(I was blown and raised in Tonawanda NY)

I wasn't raised there, but the first part happened to me once! Good old days...

Agreed, especially since the 219 doesn't get any better once you hit the NY line (at least until it turns to 4 lanes near Springville.)

Thanks! Didn't know about these, I'll look into a few.

Thanks. Is the turnpike anymore flat? And do you happen to know when rush hour usually starts up around Pittsburgh?

Won't be watching the game, home is actually a bit more north haha. Good luck to them though!

Thanks for the tips on that route! That's basically what I imagined for if I go that way - that if I get past Pittsburgh things seem they should be okay.

NY takes far better care of its roads in the winter compared to PA. We travel into NY a fair bit and I’m always amazed a the difference between the two states. PA is very reluctant to use salt where we’re at, all we get is sand, and no pretreatment.

Thanks! Are any of those roads flatter or better plowed than 219? I guess that's the main thing I'm trying to avoid with 219 since I'll probably get hosed by the weather through the center of the state either way. That and being forced through small towns like Salamanca, NY where I'm guessing they won't be plowed well (maybe I'm assuming too negatively..?). Definitely agree on not messing with lake effect and trying to stay out of the bands though - will probably make a stop near or ahead of the southern state line to evaluate & go from there. Again, I'm from WI so I'm familiar with lake effect, but uh, man. I know the last few weeks were record setting for you guys, but I don't think we've ever even had 5 feet on the ground in WI, let alone in one go.

Btw, hope the blowing experience was an enjoyable one.

Assuming no accidents, I'm more than happy to sit in traffic than stay where I've been the last couple months lol. Though, haven't completely ruled it out for safety. More likely to just call the day early ahead of icy roads after I've already started the trip.

OP here, and yeah that's another thing that had me hesitating with that route, since once you cross the state line it's a little more flat, but the trade off is then through more/worse intersections since a good chunk is just outright back roads.

It has some hills, but nothing of the rolling nature of 68. Haven’t done much time in Pittsburgh so maybe 230 on a Friday is when things pickup?

Gotcha, thanks again!

The more you stick to highways the better you’ll be. Turnpike has its own dedicated crews so it’s usually the best kept road in PA (that may not being saying much). Depending on how cold and windy it really gets I would think you’ll be fine on Friday.

From Winchester, take 522 up to I-70 to I-76 west to 99 north to 322 west to I-80 west to 153 to 219 all the way to Buffalo. Or, 81 to 15 to 147 to I-180 to 15 to I-86 to I-390 to 36 north to 20A west to 400 north to I-90 north to I-190 right into Buffalo.

​

Google maps made easy.

You can also to the I-70 norht to I-76 west to I-79 north to I-90 east. Takes you towards Pittsburgh and up by Erie. Watch out for that lake effect snow!

Thanks!

Just be careful as they are calling for a massive snow storm tomorrow in Northern PA around bradford area

Definitely. On the radar even right now you can see the precipitation system is literally bigger than the length of the whole country. It's a bigg'un and serious.

Yea, it looks like it should be done by noonish on Friday, this would probably be my route.

153 is a terrible road when it snows, especially for someone who isn’t accustomed to driving on twisty mountain roads.

The turnpike skirts the eastern and northern suburbs of Pittsburgh, so I don't think you have to worry about heavy traffic, other than commuter traffic on that section. You won't be going into the city.

I thought it was supposed to start raining at some point? I don't think it will be closed tomorrow.

Check PA511. All sorts of restrictions on today.

I think you'll be if you leave a little later. The biggest chunk of the storm is supposed to be through by noon Friday. Highways and main state roads will be plowed.

The turnpike, if it's open, should be fine. Of all the roads mentioned, it's IMO the most heavily plowed/salted, and if it's undriveably bad, it closes. The only bits on the turnpike that stick out to me as potentially spicey might be the climb out of Bedford to the Allegheny Mountain tunnel, and the series of S-bends descending from the Laurel Highlands west of Donegal. I wouldn't be worried about traffic around Pittsburgh, as 76 isn't really a commuter route, and you link up with 79 far enough north that you're not really in-range of traffic. 79 is then mostly boring and at worst rolling/sweeping, as opposed to mountainous and twisty. 90 from Erie to Buffalo I'm less familiar with, but so long as it's not actively lake-effecting (keep an eye on forecasts and radar), it should be fine?

Basically, of your options, to me that seems the most straightforward and least likely to cause problems, as all the roads on that route are major arteries that are well traveled and plowed, higher-speed limit (= more gradual turns and hills), and unless I'm mistaken, they're all divided highways, so if it you do get caught in a snowstorm, "oncoming traffic," at least, is one less concern to worry about.

I read the Western NY forecast. If it were me, I wouldn’t go.

219 is quite remote and hilly.

I absolutely adore the ride through 219 and always take it when I'm going home

context: I only go home 3/4 seasons of the year.

Cmv are on the tractor trailers and if they're pulling a trailer themselves

i 81

219 was closed this morning