The storm forecast for Thanksgiving calls for snow, rain and bitter cold

A landstorm, a blast of Arctic air and an outbreak of showers and thunderstorms threaten to paralyze traffic and cause delays at airports during Thanksgiving weekend, one of the country’s busiest travel times.

A powerful storm that brought snow across the West and the Colorado Rockies is forecast to intensify as it moves east, dumping heavy rain across the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio valleys on Wednesday evening before turning 4 on Friday morning up to 8 inches of snow will fall across the northern Appalachians, according to the National Weather Service.

Winter storm warnings were in effect across Colorado, Utah and Wyoming as heavy showers were expected to drop 1 to 2 feet of snow across the Intermountain West – with the heaviest bands lasting into Wednesday morning. Major travel hub Denver may be just inches away, but that could be enough to throw travel plans into disarray, forecasters warned.

Major cities in the northeast will not be spared from the stormy weather. Showers and thunderstorms are expected to drench much of the I-95 corridor late Wednesday and into Turkey Day, impacting Philadelphia, New York City, Boston and Washington DC, according to AccuWeather meteorologists. Rain is also forecast for parts of the Southeast, including northern Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

During the long holiday weekend and into next week, communities across the Great Lakes region could see several feet of snow accumulating. Snow could fall at rates of up to 2 to 3 inches per hour in some parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio and western New York, with the heaviest bands reducing visibility to near zero and posing a dangerous hazard .

Winter storm watches for the Northeast warn of icy roads and poor visibility

In parts of the Midwest and Northeast, winter storm watches warned of heavy lake snow and treacherous driving conditions over the long holiday weekend.

In Cleveland and Maine, weather officials expected more than 7 inches of snow to fall through Tuesday. The National Weather Service office in Buffalo, New York, warned of more than a foot of heavy lake snowfall and wind gusts of up to 30 miles per hour.

“There is uncertainty regarding the exact placement and amount of bands, but multiple periods of heavy snowfall are possible. Travel could be very difficult if not impossible with very poor visibility and deep snow cover on the roads,” the bureau said in a weather alert. “Some key roads may be temporarily closed. The dangerous conditions could impact post-Thanksgiving travel, particularly along Interstate 81.”

Arctic blast brings bitter cold to central eastern US

An Arctic blast is sending temperatures across the northern Plains, Midwest and eastern United States plummeting to lows not seen since last winter.

While the first subzero temperatures set in before Thanksgiving in the Dakotas and Minnesota, temperatures in and around Dallas, Texas and Atlanta could fall near freezing for the first time this season. Temperatures could reach single digits in Chicago on Friday morning.

“The cold snap will feel like January, delivering a significant shock to hundreds of millions of people who may have become accustomed to warm conditions for much of the fall,” AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Pastelok said.

Meteorologists expect the cool air to arrive in waves in December, which is expected to be significantly colder than last year for the Midwest and Northeast. “We expect temperatures this December to be perhaps a few degrees below the historical average, with a difference of about 15 degrees for the entire month,” Pastelok said.

A record number of people are traveling for Thanksgiving

According to the American Automobile Association, about 79.9 million people will travel 50 miles or more from their homes on Thanksgiving Tuesday through Monday. This represents an increase of 1.7 million compared to the previous year and 2 million more than in 2019.

Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel, said she expects “new records in everything from driving to flying and cruising.”

The Transportation Security Administration also said it expects the busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record and estimates its agents will screen 18.3 million people from Tuesday through Dec. 2. TSA Administrator David Pekoske said the 10 busiest travel days in TSA history all occurred in 2024, adding, “We expect this trend to continue.”

Breaking News

Dellupodisabato

The storm forecast for Thanksgiving calls for snow, rain and bitter cold

Leave a Reply Cancel reply