Topline

Winter storm warnings going into the week of Thanksgiving stretch from California to the East Coast and the potential for snow—particularly in the Northeast—could impact plans as travel is expected to rebound to pre-pandemic levels for the first time.

Key Facts

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What To Watch For

How weather impacts travel. Almost 80 million people are expected to travel more than 50 miles between Tuesday and next Monday for the holiday. Car travel is expected to overtake pre-pandemic levels—70.6 million people drove to their Thanksgiving destinations in 2019, AAA reports, and 71.7 million are expected to do so this year. Almost 6 million people are expected to fly domestically, up 11% from 2019 and international bookings are up 23% compared to last Thanksgiving. Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons are the worst time to travel by car, AAA reported, with road congestion also expected almost all day Sunday, particularly after 1 p.m.

Tangent

It's been five years since Thanksgiving brought seriously destructive winter weather to portions of the United States. In 2019, a bomb cyclone brought almost hurricane-force winds to the West Coast and rains that flooded San Diego. Hail fell in Los Angeles the day before Thanksgiving, and three members of an Arizona family died after their truck was swept away in a flooded creek. The year before, in 2018, New York City saw the coldest Thanksgiving since 1901 when temperatures in Central Park hit 19 degrees and East Coast other cities, including Washington D.C., also had near record-breakingly cold temperatures.

Further Reading

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