Winter storm threatens “major airline delays” for Christmas travel

What’s New

A storm off the East Coast will disrupt holiday travel by car and plane this weekend if it continues to develop, meteorologists warn.

Why It Matters

Millions of Americans will travel for the holiday this year. A report from the American Automobile Association (AAA) predicts that more than 119 million Americans have at least 50 miles to travel for year-end holidays.

Thanksgiving also brought record-breaking travel this year, with millions of Americans facing hazardous weather on their journey home after the holiday. That was particularly true in the Northeast, where lake-effect snow prompted officials in parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York to urge people to delay travel until the worst of the snow had passed.

Given that Christmas is on a Wednesday this year and is just seven days away, Americans could set out early, meaning the forecast for this week and the coming weekend could have the biggest impact on travel.

What to Know

Two winter storms will bring snow and hazardous travel conditions across the Midwest and Northeast through Friday this week, AccuWeather reported. A third storm also is brewing, and should it form off the East Coast, it could wreak havoc on weekend holiday travel by creating hazardous conditions on the busy Interstate 95 corridor that traverses Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston, among others, and contributing to “major airline delays,” AccuWeather reported.

More than 62 percent of flight delays are attributed to weather, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.

An updated map from AccuWeather showed that snow could impact several states Wednesday night, including Michigan and northern Indiana northeast through Maine. Rain will hit further south, down into Kentucky and eastward through Massachusetts.

Then, an Alberta clipper currently prompting a slew of weather alerts across the northern Plains states will bring wintry impacts to the Great Lakes region and into the Northeast by Thursday night. An Alberta clipper is a fast-moving storm system that originates in western Canada.

One of the factors that will determine whether the system brewing offshore intensifies is how quickly energy from the clipper transfers to it. The forecast is still uncertain for the coastal storm that could move in. But should the storm develop, AccuWeather warned of slippery travel in New York City and “an all-out snowstorm” in Boston.

What People Are Saying

AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski told Newsweek: “There’s still some uncertainty with that system, we often see storms develop offshore in the Atlantic, sometimes a few hundred miles out to sea, and they’re typically not a problem, but once in a while, there’s room to develop a little closer to the coast, and this is one of those storms that can do that.”

AccuWeather Senior Director of Forecasting Operations Dan DePodwin said in a report: The clipper itself will bring the chance of spotty snow across parts of the East Coast, but should its energy transfer to the offshore storm system quickly, it “will then lead to anything from a period of snow and a small accumulation to several inches of snow and significant travel disruptions.”

What’s Next

Meteorologists will have a better idea on if the offshore storm will cause significant weather impacts by Thursday night.

Meanwhile, multiple atmospheric rivers are expected to hit the Pacific Northwest before Christmas, potentially causing slippery travel on that side of the nation.