Driving from Erie to Pittsburgh in December winter storms for airport (Philadelphia: store, parking)

[Mighty_Pelican]

Florida native new to Erie, I have no idea what is in store for me as far as winter is concerned. I heard that it might be unwise to lock in a flight from Pittsburgh to my hometown for Christmas this far in advance because it is possible that I-79 will be blocked due to blizzards or flights may have to be rescheduled.

I'm skeptical, is it really that bad?

[simetime]

No it has been two consecutive years of mild winters and they keep the roads really clear

[trackstar13]

Yeah don't worry about the trip from Erie to Pittsburgh in the winter, 79 is salted and plowed very well. The only trip to be truly worried about is Erie to Buffalo and back during the winter can be very hit or miss.

[Geeo]

It would have to be one heck of a storm for 79 to be closed. The only time I remember was 1993 during the St. Patrick's Day blizzard.

The snowiest part of 79 when it snows is between Edinboro and Meadville (the snow belt). Once you're south of I-80, it's usually not as much snow and they keep the road clear.

[SorryIMovedBack]

Leave REALLY EARLY and don't run yourself short of time and you should be okay. I don't go to/from Erie more than 2x per year, but my parents go there all the time to have a social life, and they have never reported any impassible roads. Not too many bad accidents, either. That I-90 snowbelt with its whiteouts is the bad area, not I-79, from what I hear.

I commuted from Hermitage (PA, like I-80 area) to Washington, PA in Jan/Feb, daily for over a month. I tried all the routes:
Hermitage to Mercer to I-80 then I-79 to WashPA (Most of the trip is I-79)

I-376 (former Rt 60) to I-76 (PA Turnpike) to Cranberry then I-79 to WashPA

I-376 all the way to I-79 to WashPA (takes you right past the airport)

Overall, I think they did a much better job of keeping I-376 (toll road) cleared and treated than they did I-79. You might want to look at the time/distance difference if you were to cut over to I-376 and run it down to the airport. It's well-traveled. And you have to go west of I-79 anyhow, so you might just be better off to do it on the northern end of the trip if I-79 is looking crappy. Tolls for Class 1 are $1.80 and $1.00, total $2.80 now, if I read the fee schedule right.

I had to be on the job in WashPA by 7AM and sometimes 6AM. So we are talking some unusual early-AM commuting here, for certain. LOL

I never encountered an impassible road. Some ice, more than I'd like, yes. Early AM, like 3 to maybe 4:30 AM, you might find a snowy untreated road in spots. But probably anytime past 5-6AM, or afternoon, the road crews have plowed and treated any/all of those routes that I mentioned. Sometimes I never left WashPA until 7 or 8 in the evening, and I-79 North might be ice-glazed anytime from 4PM on. From I-80 south, count on a 3-4PM snow or start of an ice glaze because that happens as soon as the sun drops.

They say we got a "bad" snow last year the day after Christmas. I don't remember anything "bad" but I drive a 4WD diesel so "bad" has to be truly bad. But I've been back here 8 years and in all that time, most of the serious snows haven't started until perhaps January and Feb/Mar are the annoying months. Nov/Dec have been mild. BUT, this year is an early Fall by 4-5 weeks, I estimate. We've had a boatload of rain this summer, and I am hoping that means we get no snow. But as a kid, I can remember traveling I-79 and US 422 when they only had one lane plowed each direction and the left lane was 2 ruts in 6" deep snow.

I don't fly much anymore, so I can't comment on the airport and weather's impact on flights. I imagine that if they could keep the old airport open in the huge snows of winter 1977 and 1978, the new airport can handle the current winters. LOL ('77 and '78 were absolute mountains of snow, maybe the worst since the 1950 blizzards that shut down Pittsburgh, says my parents.)

[RyanR]

Just throwing this out as I'm wondering.

Is leaving from PIT that much cheaper than CLE, ERI or BUF to warrant the drive?

I'd think that even if it was $100 more for the ticket, leaving from Erie will save you the few hours of driving, fuel and if you can get someone to drop you off, the parking fees.

[Ohiogirl81]

I'd say screw Pittsburgh and fly out of Erie. Why add to your stress?

[KillerK]

Yeah, although the winters are generally milder, there are sometimes still pretty bad storms that happen. Just make sure you leave a little earlier than you think you need to so you can go slower if the weather turns bad.

Usually the weather gets better after Meadville or so when you're out of the Snow Belt. But odds are that the weather will be fine, and road crews do a really good job of maintaining the interstates in winter.

But in general I agree with the others who suggested just flying out of Erie. Unless it is truly prohibitively more expensive than flying out of Pittsburgh, it's just so much less stressful not having to make the drive to Pittsburgh airport.

[trackstar13]

I love the Erie airport and fly from there as much as I can. I definitely agree with other posters and recommend that you look into Erie first before making the drive.

[Rtom45]

Originally Posted by RyanR

Just throwing this out as I'm wondering.

Is leaving from PIT that much cheaper than CLE, ERI or BUF to warrant the drive?

I'd think that even if it was $100 more for the ticket, leaving from Erie will save you the few hours of driving, fuel and if you can get someone to drop you off, the parking fees.

The problem with that is that its very difficult to get direct flights from Erie to anywhere. Most flights from Erie connect in Philadelphia or Detroit. Detroit is not a good choice at Christmas time. Neither are flights from Cleveland or Buffalo, both of these are subject to lake affect snows.