Thanksgiving 2015 Travel Forecast: Wet and Wintry Plains, Mostly Calm in the East

November 27,2015



 
For the millions of travelers hitting the roads and airports for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, weather conditions across the country will be divided between mostly calm in the East and active weather in the Plains and Mississippi Valley.
Quiet weather conditions will rule much of the Middle Atlantic and Southeast through much of Saturday thanks to high pressure. Meanwhile, a southward dip in the jet stream will bring rain, ice and snow to the nation's midsection, creating treacherous travel conditions.
(MORE: 10 Ways to Outsmart Thanksgiving Traffic)
Here's the forecast for each day.

Saturday, Nov. 28

Possible travel trouble spots: Cold front moves into the central Appalachians, Middle Atlantic states and southern New England with a few rain showers. More rain, locally heavy, expected from Texas to the Mid-Mississippi Valley. Some freezing rain and sleet are expected again in parts of the southern and central Plains as arctic air interacts with moisture in an easterly upslope wind flow behind a cold front.
Major airports potentially impacted:

• Rain/low clouds – Austin, Cincinnati, Columbus (Ohio), Dallas-Fort Worth, Dallas/Love, Houston/Bush Intercontinental, Houston/Hobby, Indianapolis, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Washington/Dulles, Washington/Reagan National
• Ice possible – Kansas City

Major highways impacted:

• Interstate 10 in Texas, southwest Louisiana (rain; patchy ice possible in west Texas)
• Interstate 20 in Texas and Louisiana (rain; icy in parts of west Texas)
• Interstate 25 in Wyoming (light snow)
• Interstate 35 in Texas (rain, flood risk); Oklahoma, Kansas (ice)
• Interstate 40 in western and central Oklahoma (ice); eastern Oklahoma to Middle Tennessee (rain)
• Interstate 44 in central and southwest Oklahoma (ice); northeast Oklahoma and Missouri (rain)
• Interstate 55 from southern Illinois to northern Mississippi (rain)
• Interstate 64 from St. Louis area to West Virginia (rain)
• Interstate 65 in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee (rain)
• Interstate 70 in Colorado west of Denver (chance of snow showers)
• Interstate 70 in central and eastern Kansas (ice); Missouri to western Maryland (rain)
• Interstate 74 in Indiana and Ohio (rain)
• Interstate 75 in Kentucky and Ohio (rain showers)
• Interstate 76 in Ohio and Pennsylvania (rain showers)
• Interstate 77 in Ohio and West Virginia (rain showers)
• Interstate 80 in Wyoming (light snow)
• Interstate 80 from northeast Ohio to New York City (rain showers)
• Interstate 81 from Virginia to upstate New York (rain showers)
• Interstate 90 in western South Dakota, Wyoming (light snow)
• Interstate 95 from southern Maine to northern Virginia (rain showers possible)

Saturday's Forecast

Sunday, Nov. 29

Possible travel trouble spots: Rain and a few t-storms from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Ohio Valley and Appalachians. A few snow showers forecast in the Rockies and northern Plains, becoming more steady Sunday night in the High Plains/foothills of the Rockies. Good travel conditions appear likely in New England, much of the Southeast, and the West (west of the Rockies).
Major airports possibly impacted:

• Rain/low clouds – Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore/BWI, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Dallas-Fort Worth, Dallas/Love, Houston/Bush Intercontinental, Houston/Hobby, Nashville, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Antonio, Washington/Dulles, Washington/Reagan National
• Rain or ice – Kansas City

Major highways impacted (partial list):

• Interstate 10 in Texas and southwest Louisiana (rain showers)
• Interstate 20 from Atlanta to Dallas-Fort Worth (rain showers); parts of west Texas (rain or lingering icy patches)
• Interstate 25 in Wyoming and Colorado (light snow showers)
• Interstate 35 in Texas (rain); Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri (rain and lingering icy spots)
• Interstate 40 from Oklahoma to North Carolina (rain showers; lingering icy spots west of I-35 in Oklahoma)
• Interstate 55 from central Illinois to Mississippi (rain)
• Interstate 64 from Missouri to Virginia (spotty rain)
• Interstate 65 from southern Indiana to central Alabama (rain)
• Interstate 70 from Missouri to Maryland (rain); Kansas (mix of rain, snow and possibly ice); Colorado (snow showers)
• Interstate 75 from Kentucky to northern Georgia (rain)
• Interstate 77 from West Virginia to North Carolina (rain)
• Interstate 80 in Utah to western Nebraska (snow showers; increasing late east)
• Interstate 81 from Tennessee to southern Pennsylvania (rain)
• Interstate 85 in north Georgia and South Carolina (rain showers)
• Interstate 95 from northern Virginia to southern New Jersey (rain showers)

Sunday's Forecast

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