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While some people have already started their journey over the river and through the woods of the holidays this week, others are still waiting to lock up their homes to get to family for Thanksgiving.
A record-setting 82 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home during the Thanksgiving holiday week this year, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
For those traveling this week, plan on some delays as the weather forecast has shifted a bit from the original outlook and getting home for turkey dinner could prove problematic.
Outlets like The Weather Channel and AccuWeather have broken down the forecast by day, and laid out which parts of the country will see the most inconvenient conditions for traveling.
The Thanksgiving travel forecast includes rain, snow, and freezing temperatures
Starting on Monday, Nov. 24, if you’re planning to fly out of places like Dallas, Houston, and Kansas City, MO, be prepared for a wait.
Cities like these will deal with the first real soaking of the week, along with intense fog in the early morning, but conditions will make flying inadvisable. Travelers should expect delays, despite trying to get a head start.
The storm will move East from there, making conditions worse along the Eastern Coast. Travelers booking flights out of cities such as Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia could face rain delays on flights. If you’re driving, the storms may not be extreme enough to push off your trip.
However, beginning Monday afternoon and continuing all through Wednesday, AccuWeather meteorologists forecast “significant snow over a swath of North Dakota, Minnesota, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, with lighter accumulations farther south and west.” No matter how you’re traveling here, the journey could prove treacherous.
Also by Wednesday, colder air is forecasted to surge southward from the Canadian Prairies, triggering accumulating snow across parts of the Northwestern Rockies. In places like Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, that means snow and gusty enough winds to hamper any sort of travel.
Looking at the Northwest, a different storm system may bring rain and mountain snow to Washington and Oregon, then into Northern Idaho and far Western Montana later on Wednesday.
But according to The Weather Channel, the airports most likely to be affected on Wednesday for last-minute Thanksgiving travel will be those in the Northeastern cities of Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC, as well as Seattle in the Northwest.
Best advice, from the AAA, is if you’re flying, make sure to get to the airport early and keep track of your flight via your airline’s app to check for delays. Also, if you can avoid checking your luggage, you’ll be better served.
For drivers, AAA suggested filling up the gas tank the night before and leaving in the morning to avoid the worst traffic. Afternoons and early evenings are going to be the busiest times on the road, and the worst days to travel are on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Traveling on Thanksgiving Day
If you can hold out to travel on Thanksgiving itself, you might be in a better situation if you live in the Northeast and Midwest.
In fact, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, homeowners in states like New Jersey and New York can expect a crisp, sunny Thanksgiving. While temperatures may be colder than usual, rain and snow should stay away.
However, bands of heavy lake-effect snow and strong winds could continue in the Great Lakes snowbelts on the holiday, while the Pacific Northwest should expect some showers and possibly strong winds in Western Washington and Oregon.
While it’s looking like it will remain wet along the Northwest, the brunt of the storm should have passed before Turkey Day, making traveling on the holiday itself a better option.