Thanksgiving Day may be a rainy and cold one for many across the United States this year, especially in the eastern half of the country, forecasters said Saturday. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
License PhotoNov. 23 (UPI) — National Weather Service forecasters warned Saturday that “messy” weather may impact Thanksgiving travel in the eastern half of the United States, including the potential for the coldest temperatures this season.
As millions of Americans take to the roads and airports, the best potential for moderate to heavy precipitation during the mid-week period is across the Tennessee and Lower Ohio Valleys into the Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic, NWS forecasters said in their extended forecast discussion.
Meanwhile, wintry precipitation is forecast in the northern Plains and in the higher elevations of the West, where the Wasatch and central Rockies could be socked with heavy snow of up to 3 feet in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and 1 to 2 feet in the Colorado Rockies.
East of the Rockies, the Thanksgiving weather story is likely to be colder-than-average temperatures as a high-pressure cold front plunges through the midsection of the country, bringing some of the lowest temperatures so this fall, the meteorologists said.
And along the East Coast, home of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, some forecasters are raising the possibility of snow or rain on Thursday.
The cold temps, rain and blustery winds set to invade the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic region could “prove challenging” for Thanksgiving Day parades, according to Accuweather.
“A storm has the potential to snarl transit for those even traveling locally across portions of the Midwest and Northeast on Thanksgiving Day, even those chasing Black Friday deals could contend with travel challenges,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tyler Roys said in a post.
He added that strong winds accompanying the rough weather could result in “unsafe conditions” for the gigantic balloons used in the parades.
“There will be increasing clouds on Thanksgiving with high winds; however, rain should hold off until the afternoon,” according to WPIX-TV forecasters in New York.
