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A sprawling storm will be the main story for travelers in the lead-up to Thanksgiving next week, forecasters said.
“A storm will impact much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States during the busiest travel times ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday as millions hit the highways and head for the airports,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
Thanksgiving is the busiest travel holiday, according to AAA’s 2025 holiday forecast, with 82 million Americans traveling via road or air.
The storm will primarily be a rainmaker, though some snow is possible along its northern edges.
Central storminess
AccuWeather meteorologist Bernie Rayno said to expect travel delays on Tuesday, Nov. 25 and Wednesday, Nov. 26 as the storm rolls through the Midwest and into the Northeast.
According to the forecast, the storm will likely come out of Texas and into the Midwest from Tuesday into Wednesday, covering an area from northeast Texas through Arkansas, eastern Missouri and the southern half of Illinois.
“So there’s going to be some travel delays across the central part of the United States,” he said. “There could even be some strong to severe thunderstorms.”
By Wednesday, Nov. 26, “it seems plausible that thunderstorms could impact travel through Atlanta or Florida,” said Houston-based meteorologist Matt Lanza on his blog “The Eyewall.” “Winds could impact flights in Chicago and Minneapolis,” he said.
By Wednesday, Nov. 26, “the storm will be losing some of its intensity and moisture as it travels from the central states to the Northeast, but given the travel volume, even a few hours of rain can create significant problems on the roads and runways from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston,” noted AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Pastelok in an online forecast.
Snow also possible
On Wednesday, the storm is expected to weaken and move over the Ohio Valley, but still cause some delays, Rayno said. And then the cold air will come in behind it.
From Wednesday into Thursday, cold air coming down from Canada will meet moist air over the Great Lakes to create a chance of snow.
“It would be the upper Midwest, the northern lakes, where we do get snow next week,” he said, indicating an area across Wisconsin and into northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Pattern change
Temperatures will be on a roller coaster across the nation next week.
“Following a warm start to November in the West and a cold start in the East, a significant pattern change is likely later in the month and into early December,” the Climate Prediction Center wrote. “During Thanksgiving week, a colder pattern is likely for the West and the Northern Plains while milder air overspreads the East.”
A transition to a colder pattern is then forecast across much of the central and northern U.S. after Thanksgiving and into early December (see map, above). This pattern change favors a transition to more winter-like conditions across the west-central and central U.S., including much below-normal temperatures and the potential for heavy snow, the CPC added.
It’s likely to mean an “increased cold air intrusion across the northern tier of the contiguous United States” over the next couple of weeks, the forecast states.
Contributing: Chad Murphy, Cincinnati Enquirer; Brandi D. Addison, USA TODAY NETWORK
