Road conditions in the park

Hi

I plan about 4 days in Yellowstone at about May 30th - June 2nd. What are the common road conditions in this time in the park?

I saw at the NPS site that the roads should be opened, but is there generally snow/ice at that time? I have never drove in such conditions and I%26#39;m afraid of that.

So what should I expect ?

Thanks

Road conditions in the park

Hard to say weather wise. Here%26#39;s a link to a report and pictures from our trip last June 7.

alandsuejohnson.com/yellowstone_trip_2008.htm

It snowed several times but didn%26#39;t make for slick roads. Dunraven Pass closed several times but you had to detour as a result. It wasn%26#39;t really a problem but did get fairly cold. The road crews are also pretty quick to get out. We got 4'; of snow one night and it wasn%26#39;t long before the roads were clear. By afternooon, it was all gone.

On the other hand, its a great time to be there. Many opportunities for animals and their babies. What your options are if the roads get slick,

Road conditions in the park

Did you have to use chains or any other special equipment in order to drive in those conditions?

I plan to get to West Yellowstone from Salt Lake City by car. What do you recommend me to do if I start seeing snow fall in the middle of the drive (I never drove in snow before, or coming to think about it, I%26#39;m not sure I%26#39;ve ever seen snow falling...)

You should expect warm temps and blue skys.

While it is unusual to have snow that time of year in Yellowstone it would be VERY unusual that you would get it on the road from SLC to West Yellowstone. It is summer. Though it can snow in the mountains in the summer normally the temps are much higher than that. So I would stress not to worry about it.

But to answer your question, if I had never driven in snow and it started to snow in June. I would stop and watch it. Then if the roads were slick I would just wait till they were merely wet. snow in June is not like snow in Jan. It does not last long at all.

At that time of year, near the summer solstice, the sun angle is high enough and the air temps only marginally near freezing that it is hard to accumulate snow on pavement. Even when cloudy there is a lot of sun energy coming through to the dark pavement. As noted by others above it is most likely roads would only be wet. Best chance of getting anything to stick to road would be an overnight snow and this would very quickly melt off after sunrise. Unlike places closer to the Equator where daylight hours don%26#39;t change much Yellowstone has long daylight hours. The northern border of Wyoming is the 45th parallel, half way between Equator and the North Pole.

I could give all sorts of tips for snow driving (we do a fair bit in Minnesota too) but they really would not be needed by end of May.

We will be there at the same time so I hope there isn%26#39;t much snow.

Back in the ';old days';, we were tent camping in Yellowstone in late July or August and woke up one morning to about 3'; of snow on the ground and a little chilly. Later that day, the sun was out and I think it was about 80 degrees!!! Have fun.

JQ