WeatherFanatics: Chicago Snow Kicks Off Thanksgiving Week Travel Trouble

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Chicago Snow Kicks Off Thanksgiving Week Travel Trouble

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

November 23,2014; 9:50PM,EST

shifting weather pattern will bring a wide variety of weather across the nation for travel during the week of Thanksgiving, ranging from springlike warmth to winterlike cold with areas of rain, snow and sunshine.

While no giant cross-country snowstorms are forecast, there will be weather trouble spots that could slow roadway travel or delay flights.
In a press release by the American Automobile Association (AAA), an estimated 46.3 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home during Thanksgiving with 41.3 million traveling by automobile and 3.6 million traveling by airlines.

Early This Week

Warmth that surges into the eastern half of the nation will be swept away in the Midwest and whittled away in the East.
As the colder air sweeps eastward through the Midwest Monday into Tuesday, areas of snow will develop, followed by a freeze-up of wet and slushy areas.

Several inches of snow and plunging temperatures will combine to create treacherous travel from northern Missouri to Wisconsin and Lower Michigan Sunday night through Monday night. Chicago lies in this zone.
Lake-effect snow showers will also develop but not to the magnitude of last week.
Meanwhile on Monday, rain will lift northward through Boston and the balance of New England on Monday.
Showers will linger across northern Florida on Monday with steadier rain developing across the state on Tuesday.
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Farther west, an area of snow will redevelop in parts of the northern Rockies, that may transition to a wintry mix and rain in some areas.

Wednesday

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the biggest travel day of the year across the nation, and travelers along the East Coast are being put on alert for a potential disruptive storm.
Soaking rain will overspread the Southeast Tuesday through Wednesday, but how close the storm tracks to the coast farther to the north will determine how expansive travel impacts will be in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
The best scenario for Thanksgiving travelers in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast would be if the storm stays far enough offshore for rain and nuisance snow to only graze the immediate coast. However, there is concern that a stronger storm and one that tracks closer to or hugs the coast would expand the heavy rain and bring a swath of disruptive snow.

Snow may also affect part of the Midwest and northern Rockies on Wednesday. Some rain may affect western Washington state.
As cold air holds over much of the Central states and creeps into the Appalachians, the rest of the Rockies and West Coast will be free of precipitation and generally sunny on Wednesday. A warm offshore flow will cause temperatures to soar in Southern California.

Thanksgiving Day

On Thanksgiving Day, look for the cold to intensify over the Midwest in the wake of a storm system likely moving through the eastern Great Lakes with some snow.
The Atlantic Seaboard and part of the interior South will trend colder. There is a chance that a winter storm could still be impacting New England, mainly early in the day.
Another storm may be impacting the Northwest, while the Southwest remains dry.

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