AAA spokesperson offers Thanksgiving travel tips
AAA spokesperson Aisha Diaz spoke with USA TODAY and offered tips for travelers ahead of what will likely be the busiest Thanksgiving travel weekend ever.
Forecasters said a cross-border storm could wreak travel havoc for millions of Thanksgiving travelers next week.
“The storm will impact much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States during the busiest travel period leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday,” AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said in an online forecast.
It will primarily bring rain, but some snow may be possible on the northern edge of the storm, especially in the northern Plains and around the Great Lakes.
Sosnowski said there will be a lot of disruption as the storm spreads out of the Southwest, bringing heavy rain and possibly severe thunderstorms to the central, southern and eastern United States.
US weather forecast for Monday, November 24th and Tuesday, November 25th
Storms expected for first few days of holiday week across the south-central United States According to the National Weather Service, widespread moderate to heavy rain, primarily in the form of recurring thunderstorms, is possible from northeast Texas to the Memphis metropolitan area on Monday, Nov. 24.
“South of Missouri, there is a chance of thunderstorms with locally heavy rain, so be on the lookout for road flooding,” Weather.com meteorologist Sarah Tonks said in an online forecast.
By Tuesday, Nov. 25, rain is expected to spread from the Midwest and Southeast to the East Coast, Tonks said. Thunderstorms are possible in the Southeast. “The greatest potential for severe weather will be in the south-central states,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Pastelok.
A period of snow and wintry conditions is also possible in the northern Plains and Midwest from the night of Monday, Nov. 24 through Tuesday, Nov. 25, according to AccuWeather.
Temperatures are expected to be mild for this time of year ahead of a cold front from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes region, with highs expected to be 5 to 15 degrees above average for late November through Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.
US weather forecast for Wednesday, November 26th
One concern for Wednesday, Nov. 26, the peak travel day, is that at least parts of the East will continue to see showers, especially in the morning, Tonks said. “This may cause delays for flights from major hubs in the Northeast.”
Pastelok agreed, noting that “the storm is losing some of its strength and moisture as it moves from the central part of the state to the northeast, but given the amount of movement, even a few hours of rain could cause significant problems for roads and runways from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston.”
Tonks warned that heavy lake-effect snow bands are beginning to form in parts of the western Great Lakes snow belt (northern Michigan), potentially making travel in these areas hazardous.
Also on Wednesday, the Bureau of Meteorology announced that a mild air mass would reach the East Coast, with high temperatures in the 50s and 60s in many areas before returning to slightly below normal conditions to end the week.
US weather forecast for Thursday, November 27th (Thanksgiving)
Colder air is moving in behind a major storm that will likely bring severe weather and lake-effect snow to the Great Lakes region into Thanksgiving Day.
“There will be sufficient advection of cold air across the Great Lakes to produce lake-effect snow across northern Michigan and from northeastern Ohio to central New York from Thanksgiving into early Friday morning,” the weather service said in an online forecast.
Tonks said the snow will be accompanied by strong winds, which could cause localized whiteout conditions.
