Many people have already arrived at their destinations for the Thanksgiving holiday, but for everyone else, a storm that is moving from the Rockies to the Midwest and Northeast into tomorrow will bring rain and snow, which will probably affect flights and congested roads.
A record 71.7 million people are anticipated to travel by car during Thanksgiving, more than 1 million more than the previous year, and just under 3 million individuals are anticipated to be inspected by TSA today.
It is predicted that the storm, which began to dump snow on Wednesday morning over the Rockies, will continue to move eastward throughout the day, reaching the Midwest and Northeast through Thanksgiving.
From St. Louis to Indianapolis and into Pittsburgh, it will bring rain that will get heavier in the evening.
Al Roker of NBC News stated on the “TODAY” show on Wednesday that the weather is expected to have an impact on airports in Denver, Kansas City, and St. Louis today. Nashville, Dallas, Houston, and Austin may also experience slowdowns.
According to FlightAware, there were about 500 delayed and 20 cancelled flights as of Wednesday morning, but overall, air travel was going rather smoothly.
Due to a lack of air traffic controllers, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey experienced a ground delay that ended at 1 a.m. on Wednesday.
Road travelers could expect rain on Wednesday on I-80, I-64, and I-75, as well as snow on I-25 and I-70 in the Rockies.
The I-95 region from Florida to Maine will see a mess of rain on Thanksgiving Day, and the interior Northeast and northern New England will see snow buildup.
Upstate New York and interior New England locations north of the Hudson Valley should anticipate 1 to 3 inches of wet snow, with localized totals of more than 6 inches at the highest mountain summits.
With temperatures in the 40s and drenching rain predicted for the Big Apple, the renowned Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will proceed rain or shine. Balloons will be able to fly because the predicted wind speed is less than 10 mph. If maximum sustained winds reach 23 mph or higher, or if gusts surpass 34 mph, the parade’s cherished balloons will not be able to fly.
With rainfall totals ranging from 0.50 to 1 inch, East Coast cities such as Boston, New York, Hartford, Washington, DC, and Baltimore may anticipate a cold rainstorm. As far south as Virginia and Maryland, as well as across the I-95 corridor into Maine, road travel will be treacherous.
As the system moves out of the New England region, travel conditions will return to largely normal by Friday morning.
But through Sunday, a lake effect snow event will begin to form over the Great Lakes.
Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo are among the airport hubs to keep an eye on Thursday.
Large areas of the country will continue to be chilly, and there will be lake effect snow in the Northeast and Great Lakes on Sunday, which is usually the busiest travel day of Thanksgiving week as people return home from vacations.
It is anticipated that 3 million people would cross TSA on Sunday, approaching the 3.01 million record set the Sunday after this year’s Fourth of July holiday.
Although there might be some issues at the airports in Chicago and Detroit on Sunday, the East and West Coasts appear to be well-suited for aviation and automobile travel.
As the week comes to a conclusion, temperatures in the northern Plains and upper Midwest are expected to be 10 to 20 degrees below normal, beginning on Thanksgiving Day.
New York will witness highs in the 40s and lows that drop to around 28F, Chicago will see highs in the 30s and 20s and lows in the teens, and D.C. will see highs in the 50s and 40s with lows in the 30s and high 20s from Thursday through Sunday. Over the weekend, Minneapolis will experience lows in the single digits.
Authorities are reminding motorists who leave their cars in airport parking lots to exercise caution because of vehicle thefts as they take to the skies to be with loved ones.
This year, almost three times as many cars were taken from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest airport in the country, as compared to the previous year, according to Atlanta Police.
We are where we are now because suspects can program key fobs to cars, according to Maj. Kelley Collier, precinct commander at Atlanta Airport. To reduce crime in its 30,000 parking spaces, police are implementing new fences, motorcycle patrols, and cameras this year.
According to authorities, an auto theft ring that targets airports in several states is to blame for the more than 50 vehicles that were taken from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport this year. Last month, the alleged ringleader was taken into custody by DFW Airport Police.
When Katy and her husband returned from a work trip to Columbus International Airport, they discovered their car had gone, she told NBC News.
We were in utter shock that after parking our automobile at an airport and exiting, it had vanished. “We simply thought that kind of setting was safer and more secure,” she said. Later, police discovered it stripped and abandoned.
In order for us to travel and return with your car there, I’m hoping that airport security will be strengthened, she continued.
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