While a Thanksgiving Day storm causes travel problems for thousands of people still on their journeys, travelers who are already in their vacation spots have a lot to be grateful for.
The National Weather Services said that on Thursday, a dynamic mid-latitude cyclone produced sporadic showers and thunderstorms that moved eastward.
Heavy snowfall is expected to last into the evening in the interior Northeast, with lingering snow showers possible overnight in Maine.According to the NWS forecaster, winter storm warnings are in force from eastern New York through central and northern New England, with the possibility of more than one foot of new snow.
A winter storm warning is in force in Bangor, Maine, through 7 a.m. Friday, and snow and rain are predicted to persist overnight, according to the local weather service office.
According to utility tracker PowerOutage.us, more than 32,000 people in the state were without power Thursday night, with Penobscot County in Bangor and several other counties contributing to the total.
Before a storm in the Rockies with a lot of snow caused departing flights in Denver and Salt Lake City to deice, Thanksgiving Eve morning traffic on the roads and in the air was comparatively smooth. According to FlightAware data, Denver International Airport saw more than 700 flight delays yesterday. The Federal Aviation Administration reported that by Thursday evening, Denver’s arrivals and departures were less than 15 minutes late.
Due to a lack of air traffic controllers, the FAA said that Newark Liberty International Airport, a vital hub for United Airlines, experienced 95-minute delays on Wednesday. Thursday morning, that delay was removed. On Wednesday, Newark saw more than 400 delays, and on Thursday morning, there were 20.
It will take five to seven years to be fully staffed and at ease with new air traffic controllers, according to Chris Wilbanks, the deputy vice president for safety and technical training at the Federal Aviation Administration, who spoke to Tom Costello of NBC News.
According to the FlightAware Misery Map, the airports with the biggest delays Thursday night were John F. Kennedy in New York, Los Angeles International, and Seattle-Tacoma International.
According to AAA, a record 71.1 million people are anticipated to drive over Thanksgiving, which has already resulted in congested roads and highways.
According to Angel Ruiz, he spent hours traveling from Tulare, California, to Los Angeles International Airport after which he would continue on to Guatemala to see relatives. He claimed that his trip to the airport, which normally takes three hours, took longer than the duration of his flight.
Before boarding the jet to Guatemala City, Ruiz stated, “I’ve been on the road for maybe six hours already.” It’s not an ideal time to travel, but I’m happy that I got to see my family.
As they move toward the East Coast on Thursday, drivers should be cautious of rainy and occasionally snowy conditions.
In the meantime, Cleveland, Erie, and Buffalo are among the areas under lake effect snow alerts that will remain in force through Sunday. With snowfall rates as high as two inches per hour, dangerous travel conditions are expected. The most severe snowbands will form throughout the course of the weekend, with totals ranging from 4 to 6 inches to several feet.
There will be more cold ahead as Siberian air pulled south to reach large areas of the nation with the coldest temperatures of the season.
From Omaha to New York and further south, this cold will produce daytime highs in the 30s and low 40s, 10 to 20 degrees below normal.
Overnight, wind-chill-enhanced low temperatures as low as -15 degrees were predicted by the Minneapolis and St. Paul weather service office, which also predicted less than an inch of snow on Thursday.
The weather service office in New York City reported that rain was ending late Thursday and that temperatures would drop further into the 30s.
The Gulf Coast will experience below-freezing temperatures overnight. Overnight temperatures from Saturday through Monday will be in the teens in Chicago, in the 20s in New York, Charleston, Nashville, St. Louis, and Raleigh, and in the low 30s in Atlanta.
On Sunday, when an estimated 3 million individuals are expected to go through TSA on their way home, the largest task will probably be completed.
The worst times to drive, according to NBC’s Tom Costello, are Sunday from 12 to 6 p.m. and Monday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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