At least the weather outside will keep its cool in "camageddon" this weekend. However, the weather inside thousands of vehicles may get hostile.
What Is Carmageddon?
The stretch of the 405 which officials are closing lies between Highway 101 near Van Nuys and Interstate 10 near Santa Monica. Closures are expected to begin around 7 p.m. Friday night and continue until Monday morning at 6 a.m.
Commuters and officials are fearing that the closure of this section of roadway could cause an epic traffic tie-up on other major arteries in the Los Angeles region.
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Typically, the 405 carries 500,000 vehicles on a summer weekend, but all of these will have to find a different route into or out of Los Angeles from Friday night into Monday morning.
The 53-hour project, which will detour motorists on alternate routes for hours, will allow crews to demolish a bridge as part of a widening project for the freeway.
Keep Cool and Keep Your Cool
Should official's expectations become a reality, in that traffic tie-ups last for hours on area roadways, travelers could be spending a large part of the weekend sitting in their vehicles.
Luckily for residents of the Southland, the weather looks to feature slightly cooler-than-average temperatures this weekend.
Temperatures are forecast to peak in the 80s over much of the region, away from the immediate coast.
A dip in the jet stream across the Western part of the country will lead to continuing marine flow, thereby keeping coastal areas in the 60s and 70s with morning low clouds.
Even the forecast air temperatures of 80-85 degrees can heat the interior of a car to over 115 degrees in a matter of half an hour.
Make sure your air conditioning is working properly in your vehicle and you have plenty of fuel in case you do get stuck in traffic.
According to Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, "Be sure to leave the window down slightly even when running the a/c as exhaust fumes from the vehicle in front of you may be drawn into your car when idling."
If you don't have a/c, be sure to bring plenty of extra water for the trip.
Should you turn off the car for long periods of time, leave the windows down at least halfway to mitigate the interior temperature of your vehicle.
Never leave children or pets unattended in a closed vehicle!
From AccuWeather.com (find the original story here); reprinted with permission.