With travel well underway for the Thanksgiving holiday, many people have reached their destinations — but for everyone else, a storm watch from the Rockies to the Midwest and Northeast will bring rain and snow through Thursday. , will likely affect flights and congested roads.
Just over 3 million people were expected to be screened by the Transportation Security Administration on Wednesday, and a record 71.7 million trips by car were expected over Thanksgiving — up 1 million from last year.
The storm, which dropped snow on the Rockies Wednesday morning and slowed by midday, is forecast to race eastward into the Midwest and Northeast on Wednesday through Thanksgiving.
It will bring rain, with the possibility of snow and sleet, intensifying in the evening from St. Louis to Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.
Overnight, the storm will continue to move east, bringing freezing rain along the I-95 corridor, from Richmond to Boston, into the early hours of Thanksgiving morning.
As of Wednesday night, there were nearly 4,000 delays and 45 flight cancellations, in or out of the United States. FlightAware.
American Airlines said it operated about 6,400 mainline and regional flights on Tuesday and expected more than 650,000 customers to travel on about 6,400 flights on Wednesday — that’s about 4.5 American flights departing every minute of the day. are
Oh Ground delay At Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, there was a shortage of air traffic controllers from 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday until 2 a.m. on Thursday.
There were more than 300 total delays out of Newark on Wednesday, with some at least 95 minutes long.
The FAA said x Snow and ice delays were expected in Denver and Salt Lake City Wednesday afternoon.
Airport officials in these cities were preparing the planes for departure. Denver was. Leading the pack 600 flights delayed on Wednesday.
Delays were also common in Boston, Dallas and Las Vegas, where delays were in the triple digits, according to FlightAware.
Fog in Tampa was affecting departures Wednesday, with Tampa International Airport reporting 37 outbound delays, according to FlightAware. The FAA said earlier Wednesday that delays were also a problem in Seattle and Los Angeles, where lower ceilings were expected to have some impact on operations.
For road travelers, I-80, I-64, I-75 were impacted by rain Wednesday, and I-25 and I-70 by snow in the Rockies.
Thanksgiving Day will bring rain for the I-95 corridor from Florida to Maine and heavy snow for the interior Northeast and New England.
In upstate New York, points north of the Hudson Valley and inland New England can expect 1 to 3 inches of wet snow, with local totals exceeding 6 inches on the highest mountain peaks.
From northeastern Pennsylvania to New Hampshire, 3 to 6 inches of snow — and possibly more — is possible, with windy conditions likely to cause power outages in the area.
The famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Will you go rain or shine?As the Big Apple is forecast to see drenching rain with temperatures in the 40s. Winds are forecast to drop to less than 10 mph, allowing the balloons to fly. Parade balloons may not fly if maximum sustained winds are 23 mph or greater or gusts are greater than 34 mph.
East Coast cities including Baltimore, Washington, D.C., New York, Hartford and Boston can expect cold showers, with rainfall totals between .50 and 1 inch. Road travel will be cautious as far south as Virginia and Maryland, including the I-95 corridor into Maine.
By Friday morning into the overnight hours, travel will settle to mostly normal conditions as the system moves out of the New England region.
However, cooler winds in New England and lake-effect snowfall around the Great Lakes will pick up and continue into Sunday.
Airport hubs to watch Thursday include Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.
On Sunday — typically the busiest travel day of the Thanksgiving weekend, when people return home from holiday trips — the cold will continue across parts of the country, with snow from the Great Lakes and lake effect around the Northeast. Will be.
A total of 3 million people are predicted to pass through the TSA on Sunday, a near record. 3.01 million which was scheduled for the Sunday after the Fourth of July holiday. This year
Chicago and Detroit may see some problems at their airports on Sunday, but the East and West coasts look favorable for road and air travel.
Meanwhile, much of the northern Plains and upper Midwest will see a bitter cold weekend, with temperatures forecast to be 10 to 20 degrees below average starting on Thanksgiving Day.
Thursday through Sunday, Chicago will see highs in the 30s and 20s and lows in the teens, New York with highs in the 40s and lows around 28F, and DC in the 50s and 40s. Highs and lows will be seen in the 30s. and high 20s. Minneapolis will see lows in the single digits over the weekend.
As travelers take to the skies to meet loved ones, authorities are warning people who leave their cars in airport parking lots for car theft.
Atlanta police said more than 300 cars were stolen from the nation’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, this year — nearly triple the number from last year.
“Suspects can program critical fobs into vehicles and that’s what got us to where we are now,” said Maj. Kelly Collier, commander of the Atlanta airport perimeter. This year, police are installing cameras, bike patrols and new fences to control crime in their 30,000 parking spaces.
More than 50 vehicles were also stolen from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport this year, as police said a spate of car thefts targeting airports in several states was responsible. DFW Airport Police The alleged mastermind was arrested. last month
A woman named Katie told NBC News that she and her husband had gone on a work trip and returned to Columbus International Airport to find their car missing.
“Fully convinced we had parked attached to an airport and got out and our car was gone. We just assumed it was safer and more secure in this type of environment.” The police later found it abandoned and completely stripped.
“I’m hoping that the airports will increase their security so that we can travel and come back and keep your car there,” she added.