With winter weather predicted to affect a large portion of the US over the next week, Thanksgiving travel this year may become a little risky.
A strong atmospheric river storm hammering the West Coast, driving rain along the Gulf Coast, and snow in the Midwest might be obstacles for anyone attempting to get on the road and in the air around November 28.
On Sunday, weather forecasters cautioned that driving in the Dakotas might be dangerous through the end of this week, and that major towns in Wisconsin and Minnesota will be on watch for snow showers on Wednesday.
By the end of the week, a low-pressure system is predicted to develop in the Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley before moving into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
According to FOX Weather, there is still “substantial uncertainty” regarding the quantity of cold air available for snow, although snow is still probable into the weekend across the Ohio River Valley, the northern mid-Atlantic, and the interior Northeast.
The center also said that the Northeast may have a lot of rain, which would help with the continuing fire weather that is posing a threat to the tri-state region.
The US Climate Prediction Center’s six- to ten-day outlook indicates above-average precipitation in much of the western and northwestern US and below-normal precipitation in the Southwest and eastern US, although the Thanksgiving Day forecast is still uncertain and federal forecasters frequently refrain from making predictions more than a week in advance.
Much of the central and southern United States is also expected to see above-normal temperatures.
Thanksgiving Day sunshine is predicted by the Old Farmer’s Almanac for the Upper Midwest, the East Coast, and the Southwest. Rainfall is possible in the Pacific Northwest. Snow is expected in Alaska further north.
Travel from the Ohio Valley to the Deep South may be slowed by rain showers, and snowfall is also expected in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.
According to the journal, temperatures in the Plains and Central US will be higher than usual. The almanac stated that although the Plains should be largely dry, there may be a few showers.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, which includes the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Day and the Monday after, a record 80 million Americans are anticipated to travel by air and land.
With those two days included for the first time, AAA’s prediction surpasses the roughly 80 million forecast from the previous year by 1.7 million. Compared to 2019, there are two million more.
According to the association, a record 71.7 million people will drive, 5.84 million will take domestic flights, and about 2.3 million will take public transit, such as buses, trains, and cruises.
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San Francisco International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and Boston Logan International Airport are the airports with the biggest weather delays over the holidays, according to media forecasting firm AccuWeather.
Additionally, from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, the National Retail Foundation anticipates a record number of shoppers both in-person and online. There should be 183.4 million this year, up from 182 million the previous year.
