Thanksgiving storms to dampen travel, Black Friday plans across the Northeast

On By Littum

Mother Nature may rain on NYC’s parade.

A storm expected to hit the entire Northeast is threatening to put a damper on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

While the forecast for Thursday morning so far calls for clear skies, the storm system could arrive ahead of schedule, FOX Weather meteorologist Cody Braud told The Post.

“There will 100% be a system knocking on our door, we just don’t quite know the timing yet,” Braud said.

Rain, snow and wind are expected across much of the eastern United States from Thursday into Friday, with the forecast now saying it will hit after the 98th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Paul Martinka

Either way, it will be chilly along the route through Midtown Manhattan, with temperatures Thursday expected to reach a high of just 44 degrees under cloudy skies.

The early forecast showed that visibility and wind were not expected to hamper the festivities, which start at 8:30 a.m. at West 77th Street and Central Park West.

Travel leading up to Turkey Day will be best on Monday and Wednesday, forecasters predict, as a storm system is set to move through the northern states on Tuesday.

On the West Coast, early Thanksgiving travel will be messy with heavy rain, gusty mountain snow, especially in Portland, Oregon and San Francisco. The region was last week drenched by a “bomb cyclone” that left hundreds of thousands without power and killed at least two people.

Post-party travel will be more difficult for many across the Northeast and Great Lakes thanks to a storm that could bring showers to the coast and potentially a white Black Friday inland.

Cold air will move in from Canada starting Thanksgiving Day, according to meteorologists.
A brewing storm could bring snow to parts of the Ohio Valley and Northeast.

“I would plan for a really bad travel day on Friday because the low will probably be right off the coast, bringing strong winds, rain, probably snow,” Braud noted.

But there is a silver lining, he said.

“This potential parade of systems that could bring more precipitation — an inch or two of rain — each time would go a long way in helping us hopefully get out of this drought.”

Rain is expected to fall on Thanksgiving and the following weekend, bringing much-needed precipitation to the East.

New York City is under an ongoing drought warning, the first in over 20 years, despite much-needed rain that fell on Thursday. The region is still nearly 8 inches short of its normal rainfall for the year.

Saturday and Sunday should bring better travel days, experts advised.

Nearly 80 million travelers will drive 50 miles or more over the holiday stretch – 72 million by car, AAA predicts. That’s 1.3 million more travelers on the road than last year.

Air travel is also expected to reach new heights. More than 5.8 million people will board domestic flights, up 2% from last year and nearly 11% from 2019.