Turkey Day Travel? Here’s Your Forecast
It’s almost time to wish your friends and family a happy Thanksgiving, but first, you might need to get to the celebrations. If you’re driving or flying to Turkey Day festivities, here’s what you might need to know for the weather forecast:
Friday
Major airports that could be impacted: Atlanta, Kansas City, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Washington, D.C. (late)
Zone of rain and storms in Midwest, Southeast: Rain and some thunderstorms will dampen parts of the Southeast, Midwest and Plains. Only a few strong thunderstorms are possible in the Southeast and only locally heavy rain from Kansas to the Ohio Valley and southern Appalachians. That rain is expected to move into the MId-Atlantic states Friday night.
Southwest system: Rain and showers will persist Friday in parts of Southern California, especially from L.A. County southward, extending into the lower Colorado River valley, possibly as far north as Las Vegas. Some locally heavy rain is possible. Snowy travel is likely in the mountains of Southern California.
(For even more granular weather data tracking in your area, view your 15-minute details forecast in our Premium Pro experience.)
Friday’s Forecast
(Here’s a glimpse at where the rain and snow will most likely be on Friday.)
Saturday
The good news is weekend travel is looking mainly clear for most of the country with no major storm systems. That said, there may be minor weather issues for some.
Major airports that could be impacted: Atlanta, Charlotte, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Washington, D.C.
Morning showers, patchy fog/low clouds: Most of the rain shown on the map below in the East should happen in the morning. But there could be areas of patchy fog and low clouds associated with a frontal system dragging across the East and South. And that could lead to some morning flight delays at major hubs from the East Coast to Gulf Coast.
Desert storms: There may still be showers and thunderstorms in primarily the southern half of Arizona with locally heavy rain, possibly some hail. That could lead to delays at Phoenix-Sky Harbor Airport and could flood normally dry washes and arroyos.
Sunday
Major airports that could be impacted: Dallas, Seattle
More southern storms: While showers, including some high-elevation snow showers, will linger in parts of the Southwest, thunderstorms with locally heavy rain and possibly some hail and wind gusts will develop in parts of the Southern Plains Sunday afternoon and night from parts of Texas into Oklahoma and possibly southern Nebraska. This could lead to flight delays into and out of Dallas-Ft. Worth and lead to some flooded roads in the area.
Wet Northwest: Some mainly light rain and high mountain snow is expected in Washington, Oregon, northern Idaho and northwestern Montana.
Light Northeast snow: Some light snow may dive out of eastern Canada into parts of central and upstate New York, then parts of northern New England. This could lead to some slippery roads in these areas. We do not expect any accumulating snow to reach the Interstate 95 Boston-Washington corridor.
Monday
Major airports that could be impacted: Dallas, Houston, Kansas City
Soaked central: Rain is expected from Texas and Louisiana to the upper Mississippi Valley. From Missouri southward, there may be thunderstorms with locally heavy rainfall, so be on the lookout for flooded roads. It’s too early to know if there will be a severe thunderstorm threat, but at this point, they can’t be ruled out.
Northwest snow, wind: Some snow and strong winds are possible in parts of the Northern Rockies and Cascades that could lead to slippery roads, especially over mountain passes.
Tuesday
Major airports that could be impacted: Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington, D.C.
More widespread rain for the eastern half of the U.S.: Rain is expected to spread from the Midwest and Southeast early to the East Coast. Some thunderstorms are possible across the Southeast in the areas shaded in darkest green below.
Snow in the Northern Plains: Some wind-driven snow is possible in parts of the Northern Plains as far east as the northern Great Lakes, though exactly where the snow will occur remains uncertain. Check back on this forecast frequently, as this snow and wind could lead to difficult travel in these areas.
Northwest, again: Another storm system may bring rain and mountain snow to Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
Wednesday
Major airports that could be impacted: Atlanta, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C.
Rain may linger in East: For the peak travel day, Wednesday, one concern is for showers to hang in place in at least parts of the East, particularly in the morning. That could lead to flight delays out of the major Northeast hubs.
Lake-effect snow may begin: We also may see some heavy lake-effect snowbands begin to set up in parts of the western Great Lakes snowbelts (northern Michigan) that could lead to dangerous travel in those areas.
Northwest still wet: Pacific Northwest rain and northern Rockies snow is expected that could lead to slippery roads, particularly over mountain passes. This Northwest system could be an atmospheric river event with locally heavy rain possible in parts of western Washington and Oregon.
(192-hours: Further beef up your forecast with our detailed, hour-by-hour breakdown for the next 8 days – only available on our Premium Pro experience.)
Thanksgiving Day
Major airports that could be impacted: Newark, Seattle
Lake-effect snow: Bands of heavy lake-effect snow may last into Thanksgiving Day in the northern and eastern Great Lakes snowbelts. These could also be accompanied by strong winds, potentially leading to localized whiteout conditions.
Nagging winds: Strong, chilly winds may linger in the Northeast and possibly parts of the Midwest. These crosswinds could trigger delays at Newark-Liberty Airport.
Northern Rockies snow: Snow may blanket the northern Rockies and possibly the adjacent High Plains of Montana and northern Wyoming.
Otherwise, some showers may linger in the Pacific Northwest.
Thanksgiving Day’s Forecast
Sara Tonks is a content meteorologist with weather.com and has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Georgia Tech in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences along with a master’s degree from Unity Environmental University in Marine Science.
