Question Hello from Australia

[kym]

Hey all,
Myself, husband, 2 teens and my mum are wanting to road trip from Nashville to Vegas in Jan 2025. Wanting to do the trip over 5 nights but have heaps of questions!!Our family are big campers in Australia; however your climate and conditions are going to be different and i like to be prepared.
My number 1 concern is climate. This time of year the temps get to 30 degrees Fahrenheit overnight and needing the locals intel on how this effects the trip, advice, thoughts, driving conditions.......
Thank you all so much in advance

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Hey all,
Myself, husband, 2 teens and my mum are wanting to road trip from Nashville to Vegas in Jan 2025. Wanting to do the trip over 5 nights but have heaps of questions!!Our family are big campers in Australia; however your climate and conditions are going to be different and i like to be prepared.
My number 1 concern is climate. This time of year the temps get to 30 degrees Fahrenheit overnight and needing the locals intel on how this effects the trip, advice, thoughts, driving conditions.......
Thank you all so much in advance

First, welcome!

A reality check is in order! January and, February are the coldest months in the states. You may be lucky enough to see 30 at night, but more likely that could be daytime temperature, with night temperatures well below freezing.

I assume you're planning around school schedules. Just the question in my mind, why leave warm for cold, rather than the other way around?

 

[Rollin Ollen]

Hey all,
Myself, husband, 2 teens and my mum are wanting to road trip from Nashville to Vegas in Jan 2025. Wanting to do the trip over 5 nights but have heaps of questions!!Our family are big campers in Australia; however your climate and conditions are going to be different and i like to be prepared.
My number 1 concern is climate. This time of year the temps get to 30 degrees Fahrenheit overnight and needing the locals intel on how this effects the trip, advice, thoughts, driving conditions.......
Thank you all so much in advance

I would suggest postponing the trip until you can:
1 change the time of year. Vegas is January isn't bad but the eastern leg could be very cold and snowy.
2 Increase the length of time allotted for the trip. You are going to be traveling around 1800 miles in five days. Rounded down that is about 350 miles per day. you would be lucky to average 50 mph which equates to being on the road for about 8 hour per day (adding a bit for fuel and potty breaks).
In my opinion, you will have wasted the trip as you will see noting but pavement.

My suggestion, if January is the only time available and you are stuck with just 5 days, is to stick with warmer destinations. Five days in Florida or the Gulf Coast could be enjoyable or in the western part of the country Southern California and Arizona have nice winter climates as well. Your travel time can be more reasonable and I'm sure you would be able to enjoy your trip better.

Good luck and safe travels.

Darrell

 

[BGMAC]

As Kevin had said welcome to the forum.
What Kevin and Darrell have good advice. I live about 100 miles south of Nashville and it does get cold here. 24 deg F at night with mid 30’s deg F during the day. We've had weather as low as 9 deg F at times. All of this is subject to Mother Nature. Today we will be in the mid 60’s. A week ago we were in the 30’s. Who knows.

As far as distance goes, Darrel is right. Hard driving to get there and have any amount of time to enjoy Vegas. In a car driving 8hrs a day minus 2hrs for getting gas, eating, resting will get you there in 4.2 days. That’s one way. I’d hate for you guys to come all the way over here and do nothing but drive.

If you travel destination is Nashville there are plenty of things to see and do here. I’d be happy to give a list of things to see. If is some other place, we have people from all over that can help.

Safe Travels,
‘Mike

 

[kym]

First, welcome!

A reality check is in order! January and, February are the coldest months in the states. You may be lucky enough to see 30 at night, but more likely that could be daytime temperature, with night temperatures well below freezing.

I assume you're planning around school schedules. Just the question in my mind, why leave warm for cold, rather than the other way around?

Hi Kevin,
I appreciate your honesty as thats exactly what I was looking for.
The time of year is non negotiable the teens have the biggest schooling break that time of year.
The internet can only give me so much in relation to whether and those temps can mean different things in different places.
Essentially, will it be an exhausting disaster or is it feasible....

 

[Buster]

If you're open to a different starting point, I'd suggest Dallas as a good option. Temps on the direct route from Nashville to Las Vegas regularly get into the teens at night and will drop into the single digits occasionally in January.

If you start in Dallas and take the southern route, you'll stay at a much lower elevation and temps will be much warmer. It will be a different experience, but you would pass through Carlsbad NM, Tombstone AZ, Tucson AZ, Phoenix AZ and on to Las Vegas. You may still experience cold weather, but not as much.

As a bonus, West Texas may remind you of back home in the Outback.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Hi Kevin,
I appreciate your honesty as thats exactly what I was looking for.
The time of year is non negotiable the teens have the biggest schooling break that time of year.
The internet can only give me so much in relation to whether and those temps can mean different things in different places.
Essentially, will it be an exhausting disaster or is it feasible....

So now the question! As others have said. The experience is the reason we vacation, unless family is included as intent. For the most part, the plains states are excuse the expression, BORING! this is even more true in the winter.

Are there specific things you want to see?

 

[team bradfield]

I just finished that trip last month Illinois to Utah on I-40, we stopped in Vegas, temps we in the 20's at night and mid 30's in the daytime across the Mountain states, in NM and AZ you will be traveling at over 7,000' elevation most the way, it snowed frequently. we were in our Motorhome so we did not have to worry about freezing pipes, this was in November, I would not try it in January, and 350 is too far to push it in the weather, we travel about 220 to 250 miles a day. just my opinion of course, good luck and welcome

 

[kym]

I just finished that trip last month Illinois to Utah on I-40, we stopped in Vegas, temps we in the 20's at night and mid 30's in the daytime across the Mountain states, in NM and AZ you will be traveling at over 7,000' elevation most the way, it snowed frequently. we were in our Motorhome so we did not have to worry about freezing pipes, this was in November, I would not try it in January, and 350 is too far to push it in the weather, we travel about 220 to 250 miles a day. just my opinion of course, good luck and welcome

Thank you for that feedback - appreciated