Thanksgiving forecast and the best and worst times to travel
Could the weather cause travel nightmares before this Thanksgiving?
AccuWeather has exclusive details of places in the U.S. where weather could cause travel headaches in the days leading up to Thanksgiving this year.
Although the details of the forecast are still in flux, the winter weather could cause some travel headaches for millions of Americans traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday. According to AccuWeather, the pre-holiday storm will spread rain, snow, wind and some ice before peak weekend travel days.
AccuWeather meteorologists said they believe the greatest negative travel impacts associated with the storm will be Monday through Tuesday in the Midwest and Tuesday into Tuesday night in the Northeast. Some weather-related travel issues may continue into Wednesday.
Thanksgiving forecast for rochester ny
Tony Ansuini, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Buffalo, said that other than widespread rain expected Tuesday in Rochester, the weather forecast this week in the Rochester area is expected to be “very calm” with no impacts expected. On travel. He added that several inches of snow and rain were expected to fall in northeastern New York and New England on Tuesday.
Last week, some lake-effect snowstorms were predicted before the holiday — in the Buffalo and Watertown areas — but forecasters said Monday that was no longer in the forecast.
“A lot of people are grateful for that,” Ansuini said.
The weather service said rain may continue Tuesday into Wednesday, but is expected to clear by mid-morning. Thursday – Thanksgiving Day – is expected to be partly sunny.
According to the weather service, Thanksgiving Day is currently expected to be among the warmest days in Rochester this week, with temperatures expected to be in the upper 40s. The expected high for Tuesday and Wednesday is in the mid 40s. Temperatures are expected to drop slightly by the end of the week, with temperatures expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The normal high in Rochester during Thanksgiving week is 48, according to the weather service.
What to expect when traveling for Thanksgiving
AAA of Central and Western New York expects Thanksgiving travel to be among the busiest in the past two decades, with 55.4 million people expected to travel 50 miles or more from home for the holiday.
This forecast is the third highest since the agency began tracking holiday travel in 2000. The first two years were 2005 and 2019, respectively.
The Transportation Security Administration said it expects an estimated 30 million people, about 2 million people per day, to be screened at U.S. airports during the 10-day Thanksgiving travel period that began Friday and ends the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
“For many Americans, Thanksgiving and travel go hand in hand, and on this holiday, we expect more people on the roads, skies and seas than in 2022,” said Paula Twaddell, senior vice president, AAA Travel. Strong all year long, AAA’s Thanksgiving forecast reflects that constant desire to escape and spend time with loved ones.
According to the agency, most Thanksgiving travelers will head to their destinations. AAA’s November report expects car travel to rise 1.7% over last year, with 49.1 million people traveling by car on Thanksgiving.
Traveling for Thanksgiving? Best times to hit the road this year
There are ways to beat road congestion during the holidays. Morning departures tend to be ideal – the journey is completed before 11am – as there are fewer vehicles on the road at that time.
Transport analytics firm INRIX found that the best time to travel is after 6pm on Wednesday, before 10am on Thursday, before 11am on Friday, and before noon on Saturday and Sunday.
Wednesday is expected to be the busiest travel day on Thanksgiving, with average travel times reaching 80% of normal in some metro areas.
What are the busiest travel times during the Thanksgiving holiday?
The busiest — and worst — times to hit the roads are between 2 and 6 p.m. on Wednesday, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Thursday, between noon and 4 p.m. on Friday and after 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, according to AAA.
Here are the worst times to be on the road during the Thanksgiving holiday
Not all traffic is created equal.
Here are some of the worst times of congestion inside traffic lanes in the United States on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.
► Angels: Interstate 5 north to Bakersfield is expected to be 88% above normal, with traffic peaking around 4:30 p.m.
► Washington DC: The northbound Baltimore/Washington Parkway is expected to be 71% above normal, with peak congestion around 2 p.m.
► Seattle: Interstate 5 north to Bellingham is expected to be 71% above normal with peak congestion around 3:30 p.m.
► chicago: Interstate 94, from Chicago to Milwaukee, is expected to be 18% higher than normal with traffic peaking around 4 p.m.
► Detroit: Interstate 96 west from Detroit to Grand Rapids is expected to be 35% above normal with peak traffic around 2:15 p.m.
What to expect at the airport this Thanksgiving
Air travelers should arrive at the airport early, to allow enough time to navigate through TSA checkpoints, as 4.7 million people are expected to travel for the holiday this week, according to AAA. This represents a 6.6% increase over last year, and is the highest number of air travelers on Thanksgiving since 2005.
The Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving are the busiest and most expensive days for air travel before the holiday.
The Transportation Security Administration expects Sunday to be the busiest day of the weekend for travel at airports, with 2.9 million passengers expected to travel by air.
“The airport will be busy with approximately 30,000 passengers departing Rochester over the seven-day period,” said Andy Moore, director of Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport. “It’s a little bit of an increase from 2022 and certainly a return to pre-pandemic travel levels.”
Domestically, Thanksgiving week is the airport’s busiest travel week of the year, Moore said.
He said the busiest days of the week would be the Tuesday before the holiday and the Sunday at the end of the weekend. 48 flights are scheduled to take off daily from Rochester Airport on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays. Flights are scheduled to depart on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week.
And the airport is ready for rush.
Moore advised patience. He said you should arrive at least 90 minutes before your scheduled flight and use mobile tickets through airlines to avoid queues. Also monitor the weather in the 24 hours before your scheduled flight in case of bad weather in Rochester and elsewhere.
“The weather can be great in Rochester, but if a central area is affected by a storm, that could also impact your trip,” he said.
