Severe storms, snow threaten Thanksgiving travel: Here’s where

(The Hill) — Severe storms and possible snow may cause some Thanksgiving travel troubles across the U.S., according to officials.

“Two main storm systems are expected to impact the nation with rain, thunderstorms, and winter weather,” the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Prediction Center posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Heavy rain and strong thunderstorms are forecasted to impact the Lower Mississippi Valley into the Mid-Atlantic, as a system moves from the southern Plains to the Northeast Tuesday and into Wednesday.

The system could bring gusty winds and possibly snow in New England and the Interior Northeast with “heavy snow possible” across the higher elevations within New Hampshire and Maine.

Wednesday, wet weather is expected to move across the Northwest before bringing moderate to heavy snow to the northern Rockies by Thanksgiving, the NWS said. That snow is then expected to sweep through the central Rockies and High Plains on Friday.

“Severe storms could affect flights in parts of the South and East Coast starting [Tuesday],” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) responded to the NWS post.

“Be sure to check your flight status with your airline,” the FAA added, with a link to a tracker.

The weather news comes amid possible record numbers of people traveling for Thanksgiving.

AAA is predicting that 55.4 million Americans are going to travel a minimum of 50 miles between Wednesday and the Sunday following Thanksgiving. 

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) estimated that it will screen 2.6 million passengers on Tuesday and another 2.7 million passengers on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.

Sunday could bring even bigger crowds, with the TSA expecting to screen 2.9 million passengers, possibly breaking a record set in June.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said during a news conference Monday that the government has tried to better prepare for holiday travel over the last year by hiring more air traffic controllers, opening new air routes along the East Coast and providing grants to airports for snowplows and deicing equipment. But he warned travelers to check road conditions and flight times before leaving home.

“Mother Nature, of course, is the X factor in all of this,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.