Originally Posted by
safari ari
I have to be in Austin MN for two days at the turn of the New Year. I have never experienced a Midwest winter nor really want to, and barely drive when I see a snowflake. I am landing into RST and thinking of either staying in Rochester for the two days and driving down to Austin.
Question is, how bad are the roads in winter (mainly the highway I-90) and is it crazy to shuttle back and forth from Austin to Rochester? Was thinking of booking a hotel in Rochester the night I land and doing the second night in Austin. I'm more concerned about the driving conditions than anything.
You won't know until a couple of days before you arrive what the weather will be like. If there is no ongoing heavy snowfall then the interstate system will be just fine.
The nice thing about winter storms in the upper Midwest is there's usually at least 2-3 days of general warning, although often times the exact track of a storm will determine where the heavy snow bands set up and that fine level detail is less predictable.
Generally speaking the Interstates and other major arterials are the first to be plowed and treated so unless you need to drive during or immediately after a winter storm you shouldn't have a problem.
I'm not super familiar with those two cities so I will let any southern Minnesotans around here chime in on that.