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Millions of Americans are traveling for Christmas, and inclement weather might disrupt their festive plans.
While no major storms are forecast, rounds of rain and winter weather are expected to slow holiday travel, especially in the eastern US Nearly 120 million people are expected to travel this year – a record number for the Christmas period, according to AAA.
Where are the trouble spots this week?
Look for inclement weather across the West and the southern Plains, while some of the coldest air of the season briefly sweeps across the Northeast.
Places seeing a nicer forecast for Christmas Day are most of the central and eastern US.
While some light rain looks possible for areas such as Atlanta and Chicago, any last-minute travel should not be majorly impacted.
The quieter weather should allow for a smoother traveling day on Wednesday.
More snow eyes Northeast for Christmas Eve
Several inches of snow fell over the weekend across parts of the Northeast, with snowflakes even reaching the Interstate 95 corridor from Philadelphia through New York and into Boston.
This caused slippery travel during what was thought to be one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
About 3-6 inches of snow fell across eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut by Saturday morning.
Boston’s famed Fenway Park reported a solid 6 inches of snow on the hallowed ground of the Boston Red Sox, while the city’s Logan Airport received 5.2 inches.
It was the largest snow accumulation in the city since the Blizzard of January 2022.
Another snow-producing system will move through similar areas of the region into Christmas Eve.
A low-pressure system moving across the Great Lakes into Monday night is spreading light to moderate snow across Wisconsin and Michigan.
The snow will reach the interior Northeast and portions of New England overnight and continue into Tuesday morning.
Winter Weather Advisories are posted from Wisconsin to Maine, as well as in portions of the mid-Atlantic from West Virginia to New Jersey.
Cities such as Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia are included in those winter weather alerts due to the threat of freezing rain, sleet and light snow that could create icy roads Tuesday morning.
The snow and wintry mix will quickly taper off from west to east on Christmas Eve, so anyone traveling during the second half of the day shouldn’t encounter many issues on the roads.
Relentless rounds of rain, mountain snow to smack West Coast
The FOX Forecast Center is tracking a series of storms moving into the West and Northwest throughout this week.
While these will generally be weak to moderate events through Christmas Day, the prolonged period of windy and unsettled conditions will continue after the holiday for the return trip back home.
For portions of the West Coast from San Francisco to Seattle, moderate to even heavy rain could result in a low-end risk for flash flooding.
Through Tuesday, portions of Northern California and coastal Oregon could see upwards of 6 inches of rain.
Travelers flying through Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport and the San Francisco Bay Area airports could face delays.
Snow levels remain generally high for this event, so most of the significant snow will be confined to portions of the Cascade Mountains, northern Sierra Nevada Mountains and the northern Rockies. Feet of mountain snow is likely.
Another heavier round of rain and mountain snow arrives Christmas Day, which will most likely cause travel problems for people heading to and from any holiday gatherings.
Thunderstorms expected across South
A developing storm system is expected to start tapping into moisture from the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, which could produce a few scattered showers and thunderstorms from Texas into southern Missouri.
Chances of rain will continue through at least Christmas Eve, with precipitation amounts that could total 2-3 inches in the Ark-La-Tex region.
A few of the thunderstorms could be strong to severe, with gusty winds, cloud-to-ground lightning and heavy rainfall being the greatest threats.
Rainfall rates of over an inch per hour could lead to isolated pockets of flash flooding, but most of the rain will be welcome news as the region has been stuck in a drought for months.
End-of-year warmup on the way
From frigid cold to oddly mild, the FOX Forecast Center is monitoring an end-of-year warmup that will impact hundreds of millions as we wrap up 2024.
Forecast models suggest that a fairly strong and intense Pacific jet stream could develop around Christmas out over the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This can have many implications for the weather in the US.
Typically, this results in not only a warmer-than-average air mass for the Lower 48, but it can also result in a more active storm track.
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center’s extended temperature and precipitation outlooks highlight this well, showing nearly the entire Lower 48 above average for the week after Christmas, and almost everyone – except portions of the Southwest and south-central US – near or above average for precipitation.
High temperatures are expected to soar 10-20 degrees above average, with potentially over 200 million feeling the warmth in early 2025.
