Post-Christmas travelers could run into rain, snow for the drive home late this week
By
Maura Kelly, AccuWeather meteorologist
Published Dec 25, 2019 1:12 PM EDT
Hundreds of festive holidaymakers took to the ocean for the annual Christmas Santa surfing event in Crescent Head, at New South Wales’s Mid North Coast, on December 24.
A couple of storm systems tracking across the country can cause travel disruptions following Christmas. According to AAA, Thursday is expected be the busiest day for holiday travel, country wide.
Luckily for most travelers, the weather is expected to cooperate instead of hinder travel plans.
"Long stretches of Interstate 95 in the East, I-10 in the South, I-55 in the Mississippi Valley and I-80 in the East and much of the Central states will be free of rain and snow," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
Dry weather is in store for the major airport hubs of Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, New York City, Pittsburgh, Boston, Washington, D.C., Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Orlando, Florida, on Thursday.
Those traveling in the Great Lakes region may not be so lucky. A storm system moving through the Upper Midwest and into southeastern Canada can bring a quick accumulation of snow and ice that can lead to slippery travel conditions.
Another area that is likely to experience travel delays is the southwestern United States as a storm system moves over the region into Friday.
The heaviest rain and snow moved through Southern California on Wednesday night, causing travel nightmares. Precipitation will expand inland into Arizona into Thursday night.
These storms can continue to bring travel disruptions through the end of the week.
The storm moving through southeastern Canada is forecast to bring a cold front into the Northeast. While spotty rain showers are expected to spread from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts, colder air to the north will bring a mix of rain and snow to much of New England.
Across far northern Maine, precipitation arriving through the afternoon hours is expected to fall as plain snow.
At the same time, the storm system advancing through Southwest will spread rain and higher elevation snow into the Four Corners region.
Motorists should be prepared for the patches of snow along I-15, I-25, I-70 and I-80 in the region.
Traveling on mountain passes above 6,000 feet in the southern Rocky Mountains can become tricky as periods of snow are expected throughout the day.
Rain will stream out ahead of the system into the central Plains, but should remain light enough to cause only minor disruptions.
"Motorists should still use some caution in the mild weather pattern. Long nights and just a bit of moist air can lead to fog this time of the year," added Sosnowski.
"A thin layer of black ice can form on roads and sidewalks under the right conditions. This was most likely the case in southeastern Virginia during Sunday morning, where a multiple-vehicle pile-up occurred in foggy conditions."
Travel through the center of the country will become more challenging this weekend as the storm that will push through the Southwest in the coming days will develop into a far-reaching storm over the Plains.
Download the free AccuWeather app to check the forecast in your area. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Winter Weather
Post-Christmas travelers could run into rain, snow for the drive home late this week
By Maura Kelly, AccuWeather meteorologist
Published Dec 25, 2019 1:12 PM EDT
Hundreds of festive holidaymakers took to the ocean for the annual Christmas Santa surfing event in Crescent Head, at New South Wales’s Mid North Coast, on December 24.
A couple of storm systems tracking across the country can cause travel disruptions following Christmas. According to AAA, Thursday is expected be the busiest day for holiday travel, country wide.
Luckily for most travelers, the weather is expected to cooperate instead of hinder travel plans.
"Long stretches of Interstate 95 in the East, I-10 in the South, I-55 in the Mississippi Valley and I-80 in the East and much of the Central states will be free of rain and snow," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
Dry weather is in store for the major airport hubs of Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, New York City, Pittsburgh, Boston, Washington, D.C., Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Orlando, Florida, on Thursday.
But traveling won't be a breeze for all.
Those traveling in the Great Lakes region may not be so lucky. A storm system moving through the Upper Midwest and into southeastern Canada can bring a quick accumulation of snow and ice that can lead to slippery travel conditions.
Another area that is likely to experience travel delays is the southwestern United States as a storm system moves over the region into Friday.
The heaviest rain and snow moved through Southern California on Wednesday night, causing travel nightmares. Precipitation will expand inland into Arizona into Thursday night.
Related:
These storms can continue to bring travel disruptions through the end of the week.
The storm moving through southeastern Canada is forecast to bring a cold front into the Northeast. While spotty rain showers are expected to spread from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts, colder air to the north will bring a mix of rain and snow to much of New England.
Across far northern Maine, precipitation arriving through the afternoon hours is expected to fall as plain snow.
At the same time, the storm system advancing through Southwest will spread rain and higher elevation snow into the Four Corners region.
Motorists should be prepared for the patches of snow along I-15, I-25, I-70 and I-80 in the region.
Traveling on mountain passes above 6,000 feet in the southern Rocky Mountains can become tricky as periods of snow are expected throughout the day.
Rain will stream out ahead of the system into the central Plains, but should remain light enough to cause only minor disruptions.
"Motorists should still use some caution in the mild weather pattern. Long nights and just a bit of moist air can lead to fog this time of the year," added Sosnowski.
"A thin layer of black ice can form on roads and sidewalks under the right conditions. This was most likely the case in southeastern Virginia during Sunday morning, where a multiple-vehicle pile-up occurred in foggy conditions."
Travel through the center of the country will become more challenging this weekend as the storm that will push through the Southwest in the coming days will develop into a far-reaching storm over the Plains.
Download the free AccuWeather app to check the forecast in your area. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo