By Joe EdwardsShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberForecast maps from AccuWeather reveal what conditions travelers can expect during Thanksgiving week.
Why It Matters
The forecasts offer an opportunity to plan ahead—as the American Automobile Association expects upwards of 80 million people to travel for the holiday.
What To Know
According to AccuWeather’s forecast map for Wednesday, states with the poorest travel conditions include Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
“Fair” conditions are expected along the East Coast and Northwest, as well as parts of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.
Much of the remainder of the country will see good conditions, the map showed.
...On Thursday, pockets of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, as well as Michigan, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington will see poor travel conditions, according to AccuWeather.
...For Friday, AccuWeather forecasted poor conditions again for parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan. Portions of Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, and Nebraska could also see poor travel conditions, the map indicated.
...A slew of winter weather warnings are already in place across many of these areas as of early Wednesday, with the National Weather Service's (NWS) Weather Prediction Center (WPC) expecting snowstorms to bring difficult travel conditions this week and weekend.
"The areas that are going to be impacted the most with our current storm is going to be across the Upper Peninsula of and western Michigan and two other areas. One is between Cleveland and Buffalo and another is Syracuse to Watertown. These areas are going to see the greatest lake-effect [snow]," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys told Newsweek Wednesday morning.
"I-81 between Syracuse and Watertown and more likely parts of I-90 northeast of Cleveland and south of Buffalo are going to have the most difficult travel on Thanksgiving and on Friday," Roys said.
"It is not out of the possibility due to snow rates of around two inches an hour, windy conditions (gusts upwards of 50 mph) that parts of these two highways are temporarily shut down until the snow rates and or wind gusts lessen for a period of time.
"The wind across the eastern half of the Great Lakes is going to be challenging with gusts up to 60 mph for parts of Cleveland, Erie and Buffalo. Strongest winds could occur Wednesday night and indications show that there could be power outages, especially around and south of Buffalo," Roys added.
What People Are Saying
AccuWeather vice president of forecasting operations Dan DePodwin said in an advisory shared with Newsweek on Tuesday: “Many families traveling in the eastern half of the country will likely encounter delays and disruptions before the end of the weekend. A record number of travelers combined with two large storms before and then after Thanksgiving Day is a recipe for trouble.
“The storm after Thanksgiving Day could cause even more widespread travel issues than the storm pushing through right now."
What Happens Next
For local forecasts, the NWS issues regular updates on its website and social media channels.
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