Thanksgiving weather map shows states expecting snow, rain, travel issues

Those who save their Thanksgiving trip for the day may encounter some pitfalls when it comes to roads in the eastern half of the nation.

An updated forecast from AccuWeather shows the expected weather impacts across the nation as nearly 80 million Americans are set to travel for the holidays, AAA reported. AccuWeather predicts that “significant travel disruption is expected for tens of millions” of travelers.

The busiest travel days are expected to be Tuesday and Wednesday, but for people with shorter distances to travel, saving the trip until Thanksgiving morning could cause a fair share of travel disruption.

According to a map from AccuWeather, rain and thunderstorms are expected to hit a large swath of the country from Louisiana northeast through Pennsylvania on Thursday, which could slow travelers. Further north, several inches of snow could cause disruption throughout the Midwest and into the Northeast.

Although the bad weather can occur after the busiest travel days, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tom Kines said Newsweek that the winter weather may still affect those who delay their travel until the last minute or who have less than a few hours to drive to their destination.

National Weather Service (NWS) offices across the affected regions are already issuing warnings about the possibility of severe weather.

“A mix of rain and snow will move across the region Wednesday into Wednesday night. While most will see little to no snow accumulation, there is the potential for a narrow band of snow to bring at least 1 inch of snow somewhere north of I-70 (30-40 percent chance),” the NWS office in Lincoln, Illinois, said in a hazardous weather forecast. “If this happens, minor travel impacts may result.”

Even if people reach their destination safely on Turkey Day, a “significant” lake-effect snow event could disrupt travel in the Northeast as people head home Friday or over the weekend.

“The potential exists for a significant prolonged lake-effect snow event. There is significant uncertainty in the exact band location and amounts, but several periods of heavy snow are possible,” NWS Buffalo warned in a winter storm watch. “Travel may be very difficult to impossible with very poor visibility and deep snow on the roads. Some major roads may be temporarily closed. The hazardous conditions may affect the travel period after the Thanksgiving holiday.”

Meanwhile, the latest atmospheric river that dumped a deluge on California earlier this week will have moved out of the region, leaving travelers in the West free to travel home without weather disruption.