I 5 thru the grapevine... Remember: If its raining in Los angeles or Bakersfield ... IT S SNOWING over the grapevine.. AND USUALLY the CHP closes the road until the storm passes and the Ice and snow melts/
There is no snow on either of those routes. It only snows in the mountains. There are mountains along the coast that sometimes get some snow, but not much, and it doesn t stay on the ground long. The real snow is in the Sierras, way to the east of where you re going. This time of year we get some rain, but even that is usually not serious. Both I5 and 99 go through the central valley, where it snows for a few minutes once in 25 years.The only place you -might- see snow is north of Los Angeles, in the low hills that are the northern boundary of the Los Angeles Basin. And even that is unlikely.
As others have said the only place you may encounter snow is crossing the Grapevine (between Bakersfield, and Los Angeles) I would suggest that just prior to departing you call the toll free 24 hour Caltrans Road Condition hot line at 1-800-427-6723. It will give you the most up to date road conditions. Then call again as you pass Bakersfield. Plan on a roughly 6 hour drive going the speed limit.If by chance I-5 is closed over the Grapevine you can always detour east in Hwy 58 to Mojave, then south on Hwy 14.
The road does close due to weather conditions at the Grapevine. This is between Bakersfield and Santa Clarita Valley. With today s rain you are also very likely to hit major areas of fog.My brother lives in Turlock and the I live in LA. I ve done both I-99 and I-5 drives. I think the 99 is MUCH better. Because it s mostly a 3 lane road instead of the 2 lanes and you are rarely completely in the middle of no where. My brother thinks the 5 is better - because you miss all the towns and he thinks it s faster. It s not - I ve done both ways and it s almost exactly the same.If you are picking someone up or need to fly out, it would be a lot safer this weekend if you flew instead. You can fly from Sacramento, Merced, San Jose, Oakland, etc.Be safe!!
Doesn t matter which one you start on, the 5 and 99 merge. No danger of snow until you get close to the grapevine . If you look at the caltrans site (http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi)�� and type in 5 , it will give you the current road conditions. You want to look for grapevine , Gorman , Tejon Pass , or Castaic . Here is a sample I just copied: A HIGH WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM 4 MI NORTH OF THE JCT OF SR 126 /AT LAKE HUGHES ROAD/ (LOS ANGELES CO) TO THE LOS ANGELES/KERN CO LINE /THE GRAPEVINE/ - TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CAMPERS, TRAILERS OR PERMIT LOADS So that tells you the road is open, but there are high winds. If snow chains are required, it will say so.
The only BAD place is the Grapevine. Its was closed earlier this week with black ice. Check with the CHP about road conditions. Any big storm could close the Grapevine.
The elevation changes after the 5 and 99 merge.