Storms, snow threaten chaos for Thanksgiving holiday travelers

Editor's note: Follow USA TODAY's Wednesday coverage of the Thanksgiving 2024 weather forecast and travel updates.

A storm that was pounding California's Sierra Nevada with snow Tuesday took aim at the Colorado Rockies and could roll east and slam the Appalachians on Thanksgiving Day, bringing unsettled travel weather to millions of Americans hitting the skies and roads for the holiday weekend.

"Travel disruptions are possible with this system as it moves steadily eastward during the busy Wednesday & Thursday travel rush," the National Weather Service said in an afternoon forecast update.

Denver, a major travel hub, will likely see only a couple inches of snow Wednesday, but it could be enough to delay flights and slow travel along Interstate 25, 70 and 80, AccuWeather warns. Then the storm will head east.

Factors that could impact the precise track and type of precipitation were still playing out Tuesday, AccuWeather meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.

"Track and intensity (will be) the keys to where the rain and snow line will set up and the amount of snow that will fall in the Midwest and Northeast," Rayno said.

No matter how the storm plays out, rain and snow could cause significant disruptions for tens of millions travelers, he said.

Developments:

? Cold temperatures could add to the havoc. By Saturday morning, about 196 million Americans will be waking up to below-freezing temperatures, according to Weather.com.

? Overall, temperatures by the weekend in many locations will be more typical of mid-January, the National Weather Service said.

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Wet Thanksgiving in much of East, South

AccuWeather is calling for rain along and south of the Ohio River and the southern Appalachians from late Wednesday to Thursday. Much of the I-95 corridor of the Mid-Atlantic and central and southern New England will see the rain from Thursday into Thursday night. Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Charlotte, Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., are among cities likely to be wet for turkey day, AccuWeather said.

The Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City is likely to be wet and cold this year as rain spreads over the Northeast early Thursday, the weather service said Tuesday afternoon.

Trip home after holiday could be difficult for some

The nation will see little snow on Thanksgiving itself, but that will change quickly starting in the Upper Midwest. Bands of heavy snow will seep across parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and western and northern New York, AccuWeather warns. Snowfall rates of 2-3 inches per hour could force highways to shut down along parts of interstates 79, 81, 86 and 90 in the eastern Great Lakes region over the weekend, AccuWeather said.

"While there is some risk of a heavy snow band shifting into Buffalo, New York, briefly, most of the time winds will be from the west and northwest and will direct the heaviest snow from the towns south of Buffalo to western New York's ski country," AccuWeather meteorologist Grady Gilman said.

For a good part of the country, though, conditions for the return trip from Thanksgiving travel will be considerably better than on the Wednesday and Thursday departures, the National Weather Service said.

Travel trouble: Tuesday's flight delay, cancellation numbers

Record travel also in forecast

Weather woes will be a factor this week as the nation faces some of the busiest travel days of the year. AAA projects 79.9 million people will travel 50 miles or more from their homes for Thanksgiving from Tuesday to Monday. That represents an increase of 1.7 million over last year and 2 million more than in 2019.

Stacey Barber, vice President of AAA Travel, said she is expecting to see "new records across the board, from driving to flying and cruising."

The Transportation Security Administration said it expects the busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record, estimating its agents will screen 18.3 million people from Tuesday through Dec. 2. 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."

Colorado snow forecast: Multiple feet expected in the Rockies amid winter storm warnings

Rockies greet holiday with up to 4 feet of snow

Heavy snow of 1 to 2 feet is expected to blanket the Colorado Rockies and Intermountain West this week. Isolated areas will see up to 4 feet of snow as a cyclone moves inland, forecasters say.

Snowfall is expected to peak from Tuesday through Wednesday, and 10 to 20 inches will impact areas above 9,500 feet, the weather service in Boulder reported. Winter weather advisories go into effect Tuesday night for the Palmer Divide ridge in central Colorado and the state's southern foothills.

Rainfall will either be replaced or accompanied by snow Tuesday for the Denver metro area and the Palmer Divide, according to the weather service.

? Contributing: Doyle Rice and Anthony Robledo

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Thanksgiving weather updates: Storms threaten travel for millions