Thanksgiving Weekend Travelers Face Potential Weather Nightmare

Getting there had its issues.

Getting home could be even more problematic.

Travelers on Thanksgiving weekend could face several storms this weekend with the potential to be disruptive, causing delays for airlines and those traveling by train.

Making matters more complicated? The American Automobile Association estimated that 55 million people were expected to travel 50 miles or more from their homes for the holiday, the highest amount since 2005 and the second-highest since AAA began tracking travel volume in 2000.

On Black Friday morning, as millions of shoppers hit the road – or, for some, coming home from buying gifts after getting an early start – the attention has turned to the airlines.

As of 8:30 a.m., there has not been another round of waivers issued as there was earlier in the week. Virtually every major U.S. airport is clear of delays except for Denver International, where snow continues to back up arrivals and departures. Almost 500 flights were canceled at DIA on Wednesday into Thursday, 200 by Southwest Airlines alone. More than 1,000 people were forced to spend the night at the airport, where workers gave out blankets, diapers, baby formula, toothbrushes and toothpaste to passengers.

The flight-tracking service FlightAware reported 116 delays so far this morning.

The western part of the country saw the bulk of the issues on Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving Day, as a storm out of the Rocky Mountains pushed east toward the Plains.

A “bomb cyclone” caused by a rapid drop in air pressure brought snow to the mountains and wind and rain along the California and Oregon coasts, according to CBS News. Winds were packing gusts of up to 100 mph, and drivers on Interstate 5 near the Oregon-California border spent 17 hours or more in stopped traffic in blizzard conditions

For this weekend, the potential problems remain in the west and move eastward according to The Weather Channel. On Friday, snow and strong winds could cause travel problems from the Southwest and Rockies northeastward into the Northern Plains and upper Midwest.

On Saturday, the storm system continues to move east, a new storm will approach the west coast, and snow will fall in parts of the Northern Plains, upper Midwest and northern Great Lakes.

On Sunday, the areas to watch are Pennsylvania, New York and New England. The mid-Atlantic states, particularly in that I-95 Corridor between New York and Washington, should only get rain. But from New York City north, there is a 50-50 chance of six inches of snow or more.

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