Christmas Holiday Travel Forecast: Will Weather Delay Your Trip?

December 23,2016
With Christmas travel reaching a peak, snow, ice, rain, or even fog may cause headaches for those taking to the roads or skies.
(MORE: White Christmas Outlook | Most Weather Delayed Airports)
There are two main weather systems we're following: 1) A weak weather system that will sweep from the central U.S. Friday into the East Saturday and 2) Winter Storm Europa, affecting the West, Plains, upper Midwest and northern New England.

Forecast Airport Weather Impact

Below, we break down the forecast day-by-day and highlight a few areas where travel troubles are anticipated.
(MAPS: Weekly Planner)

Saturday (Christmas Eve)

Saturday's Forecast (Christmas Eve)

A broad area of rain is possible from Texas to the Ohio Valley, and East. Some light sleet, freezing rain or snow is likely on the northern edge of that precipitation shield in upstate New York and northern New England.
Winter Storm Europa will be kicking through the West, bringing snow to the Rockies, Sierra, High Plains, possibly the higher terrain of the Four Corners, along with a threat of rain to the Desert Southwest.
This system will also spread rain into the central and southern Plains, and snow, sleet and freezing rain into the northern Plains Saturday night.
Air Delays Possible: Major Northeast hubs, Houston (low clouds/fog, threat of rain); Los Angeles (wind); Phoenix (rain, wind); Salt Lake City (rain to snow)
Road Travel Issues: I-95 from Virginia to Maine (rain south, snow/sleet/ice in northern New England); I-75 from far northern Georgia into Ohio (rain); I-15 north of L.A. to Montana (snow north, showers south); I-40 in New Mexico, Arizona (snow, rain and wind possible)

Sunday (Christmas Day)

Sunday's Forecast (Christmas)

Winter Storm Europa will be going strong in the nation's midsection and Rockies.
Impacts will include heavy snow, blizzard conditions in the northern High Plains, a mix of sleet and freezing rain in parts of the upper Midwest and northern Great Lakes, as well as rain and thunderstorms farther south in the Plains throughout the day and eastward to the Ohio River Valley late in the day. A few severe thunderstorms are even possible.
Air Delays Possible: Minneapolis (snow, ice, rain, wind); Dallas-Ft. Worth (rain, thunderstorms); Kansas City, (rain, thunderstorms); Chicago (low clouds, wind)
Road Travel Issues I-90 from western Wisconsin to Montana (blizzard conditions in western SD/eastern WY, early ice in Wisconsin and Minnesota, snow in Montana); I-94 from western Wisconsin to Montana (blizzard conditions in western/central North Dakota maybe eastern Montana, some ice in Wisconsin and Minnesota); I-35 from Texas to Minnesota (rain/t-storms south, snow north)

Monday

Monday's Forecast

Winter Storm Europa will track eastward spreading snow, sleet and ice into portions of the interior Northeast, with snow and some wind lingering early in areas of the upper Midwest. Rain and a few thunderstorms will stretch from the eastern Great Lakes to the Texas coast. Another system will bring rain and snow to the Pacific Northwest.
High pressure behind Europa will bring dry conditions for much of the Plains and inter-mountain West. Mainly dry conditions will also prevail near the Southeast coast.
Air Delays Possible: Cleveland, Indianapolis (rain, wind); Houston (thunderstorms)
Road Travel Issues I-90 from Massachusetts to Indiana (rain and some ice possible); I-65 from Tennesee to Michigan (rain)
Check back for updates in the days ahead.
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