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Story highlights
Rain, snow expected to cause travel problems in the Northeast on Tuesday, Wednesday
Airlines are starting to waive rebooking charges for travelers
AAA expects 46 million people to travel over Thanksgiving, the most since 2007
If you’re heading to the airport to fly to the East Coast for Thanksgiving, expect delays of three to six hours.
A nor’easter is expected to dump heavy rain and snow on the eastern United States late Tuesday into Wednesday and cause severe delays on what’s traditionally the busiest travel day of the year, CNN meteorologists say. About 30 million people from the mountains of North Carolina to Maine could be affected.
“The storm in the Northeast continues to develop and is causing long delays and numerous cancellations at D.C., New York city and Philadelphia airports, along with trouble on the roadways, as snow increases in coverage,” CNN senior meteorologist Dave Hennen said. “Most delays and cancellations will occur from late morning through Wednesday evening.”
“Expect very long delays, in some cases averaging three to six hours for major airports in D.C., Philadelphia, New York and Boston, which will be impacted by a combination of heavy rain, snow and wind. Most delays and cancellations will occur from late morning through Wednesday evening,” Hennen said.
The silver lining for Thursday morning fliers? “By Thanksgiving, the storm will be exiting, and conditions should return to normal,” he said.
Rain and snow
Travelers can expect some significant snow accumulations.
Though Washington should see a mix of rain and snow after midnight, areas far west of the city will get heavy snowfall. Philadelphia will get rain mixed with snow around sunrise, with accumulations of about an inch.
New York will receive rain beginning shortly after sunrise, mixing with snow. Three or 4 inches of snow are possible in the city, with heavier accumulation in northern New Jersey and in the Hudson Valley.
Up to 18 inches of snow has fallen in parts of West Virginia as of 2 pm ET, and parts of New England could see up to 20 inches of snow. Thundersnow has been reported around Baltimore, parts of New Jersey and the Hudson Valley in New York.
Power outages
“This is New England; this is just another winter storm here, and the complication is just that it’s the holiday weekend,” he said. “We caution individuals to drive carefully and slowly. Consider staying put if you’re concerned. Safety first, as always.”
Pennsylvania said it’ll have state police and the National Guard in the state emergency operations center. State officials urged residents to avoid the roads if they can.
“The bottom line is, the less cars the better, the less traffic the better,” said Cory Angell of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. “If you don’t have to go, you don’t need to go. You don’t want to be stuck in a queue for hours and then run out of gas and whatnot. It’s important people realize there are hazards involved with travel, and more often than not, they don’t.”
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Flights canceled
Fliers should try to rebook their flights for Thursday, Baker said.
“Customers ticketed on American Airlines, American Eagle or US Airways or US Airways Express flights on November 26 to, from, or through (18 affected airports) may change flights without penalty, have the ticket-reissue charge waived for one ticket change, and begin travel as early as November 25 or as late as November 27 under American’s current travel waiver,” according to an airline release.
The Northeast wasn’t the only region hit by bad weather. Light snow was forecast until Thursday in Minneapolis, Chicago and other parts of the upper Midwest.
Amtrak advised that travelers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states follow its regional Twitter handles, @AmtrakNEC and @AmtrakVA, for updates.
AAA estimated that 46 million Americans would travel 50 miles or more from home during the Thanksgiving weekend, and 90% of them would traveling by car. That would be the most travelers since 2007.
Drivers should check weather forecasts before setting out on the road, and travelers should also check tire pressure, car batteries and windshield wipers.
“The busy I-95 corridor will be impacted by both rain and snow,” Hennen said. “It will be the rough dividing line between snow to the west, and rain to the east.”
The worst road conditions will be from Connecticut, through most of Massachusetts into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, where over a foot of snow will fall, he said.
On the bright side, people traveling by car will probably pay less for gas than in recent years, AAA says.
The current average price of gasoline in the United States is $2.85 per gallon, 43 cents per gallon lower than the average price at the same time last year.