A storm hitting California’s Sierra Nevada mountains with snow Tuesday was taking aim at the Colorado Rockies and could swing east and hit the Appalachians on Thanksgiving Day, bringing unsettled weather to millions of Americans as they beat the skies and roads for the holiday weekend.
Denver, a major travel hub, may see a few inches of snow on Wednesday, but it could be enough to delay flights and slow travel along Interstates 25, 70 and 80, AccuWeather warns. Then the storm will head east. Things that could affect the exact path and type of rain were still playing out Tuesday, AccuWeather Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.
“Track and intensity (will be) the keys to whether the rain and snow line will stabilize and the amount of snow will fall in the Midwest and Northeast,” Rayno said.
No matter how the storm plays out, rain and snow could cause major disruption to tens of millions of travelers, he said.
Developments:
■ Cold can increase confusion. By Saturday morning, about 196 million Americans will be waking up to temperatures below freezing, according to Weather.com.
■ Overall, temperatures over the weekend in most areas will be above average for mid-January, National Weather Service.
FILE PHOTO: Passengers gather at Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 19, 2024.
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Record the movements again in the forecast
The weather will be key this week as the country faces some of the toughest travel days of the year. AAA projects 79.9 million people will travel 50 miles or more from their homes for Thanksgiving between Tuesday and Monday, December 2. This 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 “looking forward to setting new standards across the board, from driving to flying and traveling.”
The Transportation Security Administration said it expects to see the busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record, estimating that its agents will screen 18 million people from Tuesday to December 2. TSA Director David Pekoske said the 10 busiest travel days in TSA history all occurred in 2024, adding that “we We expect the trend to continue.”
Colorado Snow forecast: More snow is expected in the Rockies amid a snowstorm warning
Rocks greet a break of up to 4 meters of snow
Heavy snowfall of 1 to 2 feet is expected to blanket the Colorado Rockies and Intermountain West this week, with remote areas seeing up to four feet of snow as the storm moves inland, forecasters say. Snowfall is expected to peak between Tuesday and Wednesday, with 10 to 20 inches affecting elevations above 9,500 feet, the weather service in Boulder reported. A winter weather advisory goes into effect Tuesday night for the Palmer Divide ridge in central Colorado and the state’s southern hills.
Rain will be replaced or accompanied by snow early Tuesday in the Denver metro area and the Palmer Divide, according to the service.
− Anthony Robledo
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Thanksgiving weather: Storms threaten to move millions