Anyone from Northern California? (Worried About Weather)

[Christin82]

We are driving from Modesto/Oakdale, CA to Anaheim tomorrow morning and will be there thru Tuesday.

I’m not worried at all about the rain in the parks on Saturday and Sunday; in fact, I’m looking forward to rain in the hopes that it may have a positive impact on wait times.

However, I’m anxiously fixating on the possibility that the Grapevine will be closed due to snow. Is anyone else traveling from NorCal to Anaheim this weekend? People keep reassuring me that it will be fine, that it isn’t supposed to be cold enough to snow there this weekend and that I’m being paranoid. Lol The thing is, it was just closed last week due to snow, but luckily it reopened within a couple hours. My big fear is that we won’t be able to get there after having already paid for our hotel and tickets.

Does anyone know of an alternate route in case of a Grapevine closure? Am I overreacting? Have a great day, Everyone!

 

[Whistlebee]

Hi Christin82! We leave this week too and we’re also from the Modesto/Oakdale area. I’ve noticed a lot of people on these boards are from our area!

It’s funny but aim almost hoping we get rain at DL. I’ve never been when it’s rained before. It doesn’t sound to me like it’ll be a whole lot of rain tho, so I’m not sure how much it’ll affect the crowds.

I’m really not worried at all about snow on the Grapevine. This is a much warmer storm then the one we had last week. It’s just not going to be cold enough to bring the snow level that low. You can really tell a difference in the temps outside too, it’s much warmer this week than it was last week.
Safe travels and I hope you guys have a great trip!

 

[StormyCA]

From what I can see, it isn't supposed to get cold enough to snow over the Grapevine this weekend. You can monitor weather for Lebec, CA and Gorman, CA to keep on top of things.

Yes, there are alternate routes. One takes you out into the desert and back to the LA basin, the other takes you out to the coast and down 101. Both add a few hours to your trip. But it's not likely you'll need either.

 

[pblack]

I'm from the Sacramento area and will be heading to Anaheim Friday afternoon/evening. I'm not overly concerned about the grapevine getting closed. Unless the storms majorly change, I think it should be fine.

 

[WonkaKid]

I’m not worried at all about the rain in the parks on Saturday and Sunday; in fact, I’m looking forward to rain in the hopes that it may have a positive impact on wait times.

In my experience, rain is the only thing that has an effect on crowds consistently. I’ve been to Disneyland on Super Bowl Sunday, Oscars day, etc. None of those make any difference.

Now: my preference is for Sunday mornings at the park to be impossibly sunny. However, if they’re not, rainy days also have their compensations . As it stands now, it looks like we’ll have rain on Sunday. Either way, we win .

 

[Malcon10t]

Does anyone know of an alternate route in case of a Grapevine closure? Am I overreacting? Have a great day, Everyone!

We make this drive often (1-2 times a month) and in 20+ years, we've only had the Grapevine close twice, and once was the last trip (2 weeks ago). (We are from Modesto...)

Watch the weather for the Gorman area and monitor CalTrans app. If it is showing the CHP is pacing cars, it will likely close or be very slow going.

Should you need to go around, we go out 58E from Bakersfield to Mojave 14S to the 5S in Santa Clarita. It adds about 50-75 mins to the trip. (Its about 45 miles out of the way.)

DON't go 101. It adds over 100 miles and is very slow. Parts of 101 washed out during the rains in Jan.

From our area, straight down the 99 is 340miles. Going out to 58/14/5 is 385 miles. Going out to 101 is 446 miles.

But I think you will be fine!

 

[emmybee]

The road was closed on Thursday. We drove over the grapevine on Friday. It was perfectly fine. The snow was beautiful to look at and did not impact the road at all. When we drove back on Sunday, the snow had melted away drastically.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

For the OP: saw your new post -- glad you all arrived safely!

 

[WonkaKid]

For the OP: saw your new post -- glad you all arrived safely!

Seconded! See you on Sunday, at which time I can help guide you to a crushing defeat of the rest of your fam at Buzz Lightyear. If you don't beat the highest-scoring one of them by at least a factor of two, I'll consider an ignominious retirement ;-).

Incidentally, here are a few pics I took at DL on a rainy Sunday about three weeks ago. Is it kind of a downer to have it rain in the park? Perhaps. But note the absence of insane crowds. Rain at DL has its compensations ;-).


Peter Pan at 8:30. On a sunny day, the line would easily be twice this long.

 

[nedac]

Going to be there Saturday-Thursday myself... bummed about the high rain chances, but there is a bright side, I suppose (no pun intended)

We went 2 years ago and got rained on... but it didnt last all day. Hoping thats the case again.

 

[Pamela M]

There is also an app you can download - it's the caltrans quick map. I use this all the time for when I drive up to Tahoe.
I agree with everyone else that it's finally warmed up so I don't think you'll see snow over the grapevine.