Can we talk about the weather and road conditions getting to/from campus/Laramie to Denver international? Wyoming was hovering near the top of my D’s list but I’ve heard that travel can become impossible most months of the school year. We had planned to visit in April from the East coast, but it seems that it is an iffy proposition with a tight budget and schedule- we could get stranded and be out of our flights home. Anyone with experience?
Should not be a major issue (he says before you get the mother of all storms, I jest - you should be fine), but it can snow in Colorado and Wyoming along the Front Range any day from October through May. However, it is so dry and usually sunny, the snow really doesn’t last on road surfaces very long if you stay on the plateau to the east of the Front Range of the Rockies, which you will do. It is rarely east coast icy. Laramie is windy all year long, and the snow is powder, so drifting can occur. You’ll see a ton of drift fences to protect the highways.
Do not be surprised if it is sunny and dry your entire stay and then a foot dumps one day the following week.
If for some reason, I-25 is backed up or closed, you can drive up 85 or veer off I-25 onto 287. I should add the drive from DIA to Laramie on I-25 and I-80 is surprisingly very flat, so don’t picture blind mountain curves or anything.
Unlike some other parts of the country, people just drive in snow in Colorado and Wyoming. My kids had about 5 snow days in 10 years living in Boulder. Mountain lion, flood, bear, forest fires added up to more cancelled days.
@bloomfield88 Thanks for the info! We would be on a super tight schedule- in and out, really- that any closures would mess the whole thing up. And we definitely couldn’t afford to stay longer or pay for new flights. I’ve read that the roads sometimes close just for wind.
Super tight schedule is a risk anywhere including sunny LA. Traffic, fires and flight delays being the case there. So, that is the nature of the beast. I would do it, but I am very familiar with Colorado and Wyoming and this is all eastern prairie country, so no mountain passes to worry me.
No doubt it is windy in large swaths of Wyoming. I don’t remember precisely if April is less windy or not. If you go to climate charts you’ll see the chances of snow in Laramie is very, very low.
Check out this and add Denver and Fort Collins to get a good view of the entire route.
https://weatherspark.com/m/3574/4/Average-Weather-in-April-in-Laramie-Wyoming-United-States
My daughter went to school at Wyoming and I think she had 1-3 late starts. In that same time, CU closed for snow for 2-3 day per year (I get notices from both schools) and have late starts all the time (two last week). Kids at Wyo are tough. I did have a little problem with a snow squall once when I went to pick her up. It was sunny and fine, then suddenly there was snow twisting around like a tornado. I just drove a little slower and it was fine.
It is much more likely that the denver airport would be closed than I-80 from Cheyenne to Laramie. It’s 37 miles. Really, never had a problem in the 4 year. The weekend we went to visit when she was in high school? Flooding in Colorado required us to double back on I-25, go through Greeley, and join I-80 a little east of Cheyenne. Not Wyoming’s fault!