Best way to get road condition info when planning a trip

Every state has their own website. I don't know about others but Tennessee has road conditions on theirs. But, a CB will a lot better. The road condition updates may not include some roads.

 

ALSO, from a smartphone, iPad, laptop, or tablet-PC with internet capability:

Google maps has a very good traffic overlay.


OR: www.traffic.com

OR any one of the many GPS's available with "live traffic" built in.

 

A good site to keep in mind is http://www.weather.com/. It provides local as well as national weather conditions from 10 days in advance to 15 min intervals. The picture below is what I looked at while responding to your question.



They also have a very good feature called "Trip Planner". You just put in your start and finish locations with the dates and you can see the forecast in a very interactive way. It is extremely user friendly. The picture below is an example I put in from Va to Washington State.



Hope this helps. Drive Safe!

 

For winter time (snow/ice) forecasting 3 days out ...
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/pwpf/wwd_accum_probs.php?fpd=24&ptype=snow

is pretty straight forward on a day-by-day (24 hour) basis

 

i use weatherbug and check doppler call 511 if i have to.

the traffic interlay on google only works for major populations.

there are state websights and usually have cameras. but they can be cumbersom to access.

 

For cross-country trip planning, cameras don't do a lot of good. If you're in Carlise, PA, headed for Compton, CA, those snowy webcams along New Mexico I-40 don't mean much to indicate what the situation will be like 2 days later. But certainly you need to determine deviate locations and check when you get to those to see if another route may be prudent. (Amarillo, Santa Rosa, Ogallala, Little Rock, etc)

Also, on various weather sites for a particular location, look for a red highlighted "hazardous weather outlook" links. These will go up several days in front of potential hazardous winter or stormy weather events, and sometimes will discuss the timing in some detail if it's known. They will remain in effect until the situation has passed.
Example from Cincy, OH on Jan 23

Hazardous Weather Outlook
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
426 AM EST TUE JAN 22 2013


INZ073>075-KYZ091>093-OHZ077>079-230930-
RIPLEY-DEARBORN-OHIO-BOONE-KENTON-CAMPBELL-HAMILTON-CLERMONT-BROWN-
426 AM EST TUE JAN 22 2013


...WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST THIS MORNING...


THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST INDIANA...NORTHERN
KENTUCKY...SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO AND SOUTHWEST OHIO.


.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.


PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.


WIND CHILL ADVISORY.


WIND CHILL VALUES WILL ALSO BE VERY COLD TONIGHT...WITH READINGS NEAR OR
BELOW ZERO.


.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.


AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY THURSDAY
NIGHT INTO FRIDAY. THE TYPE OF PRECIPITATION WILL BE HIGHLY
DEPENDENT ON HOW FAR NORTH OR SOUTH THIS STORM MOVES. ALTHOUGH
THERE IS UNCERTAINTY REGARDING THE TRACK OF THIS SYSTEM...LATEST
INDICATIONS ARE THAT THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR ACCUMULATING
WINTRY PRECIPITATION TO OCCUR.


.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...


SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.


$$

 

Here's the link I use: http://www.weather.com/outlook/weatherbystate