Travel
Thanksgiving Weather Travel Forecast | Weather.com
- Rain and higher-elevation snow is most likely this weekend in the West and Northeast, while most others stay dry.
- Gusty winds might cause some airport delays in the Northeast this weekend.
- Early next week’s forecast is still uncertain but might feature some unsettled weather in parts of the West and East.
AAA estimates nearly 80 million will travel for Thanksgiving this year and for some, weather could interrupt some of those plans.
Here’s a look at the forecast for those hitting the roads and taking to the skies this weekend followed by an early glimpse at a still uncertain forecast for Thanksgiving week.
(MORE: Guide To Surviving Thanksgiving Travel)
This Weekend
Much of the country will be dry, but the West Coast and the Northeast could have some rainy, snowy and windy trouble spots.
Rain showers are possible from California to the Pacific Northwest, with rain and mountain snow extending eastward into the Rockies.
In the Northeast, a lingering low-pressure system will produce scattered areas of rain and high-elevation snowflakes, mainly across interior areas and New England on Saturday. That low will also instigate gusty winds in the region, which might result in some airport delays.
Possible airport hub delays: San Francisco (rain, low clouds); Northeast megalopolis airports, especially Saturday (gusty winds)
Thanksgiving Week Early Look
The forecast for the start of next week is still coming into focus and remains highly uncertain.
Right now, forecast model guidance isn’t depicting a major storm, but we do expect some weaker weather disturbances to track within a jet stream that will ride in a mostly flat west-to-east orientation across the country.
In general, those disturbances could mean there will be some wet weather to contend with in the East, and the West might have pockets of rain and mountain snow. The forecasts for Monday and Tuesday are below, but keep in mind these are highly subject to change until the forecast becomes clearer.
Check back to weather.com and The Weather Channel app for updates.
Chris Dolce has been a senior meteorologist with weather.com for over 10 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.