10:35 am Monday Thanksgiving Travel Weather Bulletin

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This may be one of the worst holiday periods for airline travelers ever. I urge you to use the tips found here if you are traveling in the East (including changing planes) Tuesday or Wednesday. The airlines have already issued waivers so, by being proactive, you may be able to "beat the storm" which is the best strategy in this situation. 

 Latest AccuWeather regional radar at 10:30am CST:

This is the area where poor travel conditions (slick roads even if precipitation isn't falling) are expected into this evening. The worst conditions are in pink.

Here is an overview of tomorrow and Wednesday. The strong storms in Florida and the far Southeast are forecast for tomorrow.

Since Wednesday is the biggest travel day of the year, here is a detailed simulated radar for 7am EST Wednesday.
It shows thunderstorms and/or heavy rain at Boston, the New York airports, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. What this means is that the airlines will start the day behind and will likely lose ground from there. Rebook and leave early if you can!

Given this is forecast to be the coldest Thanksgiving week of this millennium so far, here are cold weather safety tips for you and your pets.

With the exception of California, Thanksgiving Day looks OK in most areas.

Comments

  1. BrianNovember 25, 2013 at 11:32 AM

    I submit the 2010 Christmas Holiday season travel was far worse. That storm CLOSED EWR, JFK, LGA, railroads, and highways for multiple days. This storm is going to be a NE Corridor nuisance - no doubt, but let's back off a bit on the hype, OK?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mike SmithNovember 25, 2013 at 1:00 PM

    Hi Brian,
    Here is the difference: The flights are more full this year. When have you ever heard of airlines offering money for people already with reservations to change their plans?
    Let's wait and see what happens before we throw around the word "hype."
    Mike

    ReplyDelete
  3. BrianNovember 25, 2013 at 1:55 PM

    I still think a 4 hr delay at EWR is less disruptive than a complete airport closure which happened in 2010. You'll also have to cite your source for "offering money for people...to change their plans." A quick look at 1p MT of the major airline sites resulted in ONE Travel Advisory - US Air for DFW. No doubt there will be waivers but none exist as of now for the East Coast.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mike SmithNovember 25, 2013 at 1:58 PM

    Brian,
    I answered your first comment and I am not going to argue with you.
    I do this as a service to my readers at no charge and with no advertising other than my books.
    If you believe there are better sources, so be it. I hate to lose you but, as I said, I'm not going to argue.
    Mike

    ReplyDelete
  5. BrianNovember 25, 2013 at 5:19 PM

    Mike:

    You do an excellent job with this site. You bring sound, professional content and are not afraid to express your opinion. I assume you do permit constructive discussions on this site. Most other sites lose reasoned arguments in vitriol.

    IMO, the meteorology profession is over-hyping this storm. It is going to be a warm storm for the east coast. Yes there will be travel delays due to wind/rain and inherent infrastructure limitations of the NYC/Philly/Boston airports. Yes the roads will be congested and slow. Yes there will be train delays. It would be far worse if it was a cold storm (snow/frz rain) in the major cities and then I'd fully agree with you.



    Thanks for letting me express my opinion and thanks for all you do on this site. And if I'm wrong, send me some Heinz 57 to go along with my crow.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mike SmithNovember 25, 2013 at 6:40 PM

    Thank you, Brian.

    ReplyDelete

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