Eastern snowfall threatens travel on eve of Thanksgiving holiday

INCLEMENT WEATHER IS expected to affect travelers as a storm moves up the U.S. East Coast Wednesday on the eve of the Thanksgiving Day holiday. / PBN FILE PHOTO/BRIAN MCDONALD
INCLEMENT WEATHER IS expected to affect travelers as a storm moves up the U.S. East Coast Wednesday on the eve of the Thanksgiving Day holiday. / PBN FILE PHOTO/BRIAN MCDONALD

BOSTON – Travel conditions will deteriorate north and west of Interstate 95 from Virginia to New England as snow from a powerful storm moves up the U.S. East Coast tomorrow on the eve of the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

As much as 8 inches (20 centimeters) are possible from Virginia into New York, while as much as a foot may pile up across northern New England, said Jim Hayes, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md. Northern parts of New York City may get 4 to 6 inches, with lower Manhattan receiving 2 to 4, said David Stark, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Upton, N.Y.

“The snowfall will significantly impact holiday travel, making driving dangerous at times,” the weather service said in its winter storm watch.

An estimated 46.3 million travelers will make trips of 50 miles (80 kilometers) or more to reach celebrations for the U.S. holiday, which falls on Nov. 27 this year, according to AAA. More than 89 percent of those journeys will be by car.

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“I think the earlier they can go, the better off they will be,” Hayes said. “Travel conditions will deteriorate on Wednesday.”

The system should end in New York City by the time the holiday dawns.

Thanksgiving travel

During the six-day Thanksgiving holiday period, from today through Nov. 30, the number of trips of 50 miles or more increases 54 percent, compared with the 23 percent jump from Christmas to New Year’s Day, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

A winter storm watch stretched from Virginia to Maine, including Philadelphia, Trenton and Albany, the weather service said. The storm will reach Washington and Philadelphia early tomorrow and spread northward into New York and New Jersey during the course of the day, Hayes said.

Snow will start in New York after noon and continue through the night, Stark said. The heaviest amounts will be outside the city to the north and west.

Hayes said heavy snow will most likely reach from western Virginia through Maryland into eastern Pennsylvania and then across northern New Jersey and New York’s Hudson River Valley. As much as 8 inches may fall in that area.

“The weather could be a real problem further north and west of I-95,” Hayes said.

New England

By the time the storm reaches New England, it will probably have grown stronger, so interior portions of the six-state region from western Massachusetts across Vermont and New Hampshire could get as much as 12 inches, Hayes said.

Boston is forecast to have almost all rain, said Benjamin Sipprell, a weather service meteorologist in Taunton, Mass.

Just to Boston’s north and west, accumulations may range from 6 to 10 inches, he said.

“For the most part we have a classic nor’easter going on here,” Sipprell said.

Hayes said the areas close to I-95 will be on the dividing line between snow and rain, making forecasts there particularly difficult. He said the stretch between Boston and Providence will be the most problematic.

Battle lines

“Southeastern Massachusetts to Rhode Island is where the battle line is going to be between snow and rain,” Hayes said.

A similar situation could affect predictions for southern New Jersey and Long Island.

The snow should end in New York by midnight with Thanksgiving Day becoming drier, Stark said.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade kicks off at 9 a.m. on 77th Street and Central Park West. The high for the day is forecast to be 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 Celsius.)

Farther to the west, Chicago has a 20 percent chance of picking up some light snow tomorrow, said Bill Nelson, a weather service meteorologist in Romeoville, Ill.

“All in all, it doesn’t look like there should be too many hazards or impediments to travel,” Nelson said.

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