Will it snow on Thanksgiving? How winter storms could affect your holiday travel

Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on weather and Thanksgiving travel for Monday, Nov. 25. For the latest news on snow, storms and Thanksgiving travel, view USA TODAY's updates for Tuesday, Nov. 26.

Winter weather could cause travel delays and disruptions this week as millions of people hit the roads and skies for Thanksgiving.

In the West, heavy rain and snow were forecast to slam much of California on Monday and Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. That's because of "another atmospheric river event" that will bring copious rainfall to coastal and valley locations and 3 to 4 feet of snow to the Sierra, forecasters said.

The storm will move into the Rockies by midweek: "One tricky travel area will be in and around the Denver area as snow spreads across the area on Wednesday, where 1-3 inches of snow is expected to fall," AccuWeather meteorologist Emma Belscher said in an online forecast.

The forecast for Thanksgiving Day "doesn't look great for much of the East," Weather.com said. It forecast "possible thunderstorms in the Southeast to wintry mix and slush in the Great Lakes, to a little bit of everything in the Northeast and New England."

Midwest snow expected on Monday

The weather service also said Monday that a pair of low-pressure systems moving through the Upper Midwest will generate several inches of snow over Michigan's upper peninsula Monday, while show showers were expected across the greater Upper Midwest and Lower Great Lakes.

Elsewhere, Monday's mild weather will be short-lived in the central U.S.: "Temperatures will remain above average for one last day from the Southern Plains into the Midwest before a strong cold front pushes through on Tuesday," the weather service said in its Monday morning forecast.

Thanksgiving storm targeting the East

Later in the week, a new storm packing the "potential for accumulating snow" is set to take shape across the eastern portion of the United States on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, according to AccuWeather meteorologists.

According to AccuWeather, two scenarios could play out:

• The first scenario involves a slow-moving storm that could mean longer-lasting consequences from the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys through the Northeast.

• The second scenario sends the same storm farther south and off the Carolina coast through Thanksgiving, which would mean a less intense storm with rounds of rain and even snow from the Tennessee Valley eastward to the East Coast.

Charlotte airport workers on strike over low wages

Adding to the travel chaos, service workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport went on strike Monday morning at the start of the busy Thanksgiving week to protest unfair labor practices and demand higher wages.

Officials with Service Employees International Union announced the strike by workers employed by American Airlines contractors, ABM and Prospect, in a statement obtained by USA TODAY on Monday after the workers on Friday voted to authorize their strike at the busy airport.

"The (employees) are paid so little that they struggle to secure basic housing," SEIU officials wrote in the release. "Some have become homeless, sleep in their cars, or cram their families into rented rooms, while others face the looming threat of eviction."

– Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY

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Travel records are also in forecast

Anything that jams up flights would be coming at a historically bad time.

Last week, the Transportation Security Administration said it expects to see its busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record, estimating its agents will screen 18.3 million people from Tuesday through Dec. 2. That would represent a 6% increase from 2023.

Passenger volumes have reached record highs in 2024; there has been an increase of 17% since 2022, the TSA said in a statement. TSA Administrator David Pekoske said the 10 busiest travel days in the TSA's history have all occurred in 2024, adding that "we anticipate that trend to continue."

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Low gas prices could drive record travel

AAA projects 79.9 million people will travel 50 miles or more from their homes for Thanksgiving from Tuesday to Dec. 2. That represents 1.7 million more travelers than last year and 2 million more than in 2019.

“Thanksgiving is the busiest holiday for travel, and this year we’re expecting to set new records across the board, from driving to flying and cruising,” said Stacey Barber, Vice President of AAA Travel.

Low gas prices are expected to fuel record travel. The national average will possibly drop below $3 a gallon for the first time since 2021.

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Thanksgiving weather forecast: Winter storm could affect travel