Thanksgiving weekend travel 2014: Icy roads in Northeast
Icy roads will be a hazard in the Northeast as millions of Americans return home from Thanksgiving this weekend.
An onslaught of storms, bringing snow and rain, will disrupt travel in the West.
While drier and milder weather will arrive across the Northeast this weekend, refreezing of melted snow remains a concern.
A winter storm on November 26 knocked out power to more than 300,000 customers in the Northeast at the height of the storm. Thousands remained in the dark on Thanksgiving Day.
As milder weather reaches the snow-packed Northeast, the snow will melt during the day.
The icy roads will be the most prevalent travel threat this weekend, especially across the interior.
Those traveling at night or around dawn this weekend should be prepared for slick spots.
The snowmelt could bring standing water across low-lying and poor drainage areas, but any flooding should be isolated.
A few brief rain showers and even a few flurries will be found over the interior this weekend, but there will be no widespread weather-related threats to ground or air travel.
Snow will slow travel across Montana and the northern Rockies, while periods of rain will soak northern California this weekend.
A cold storm will usher in periods of snow for the northern Rockies and much of Montana on November 29.
Travelers on Interstates 90 and 15 should anticipate snow-covered roadways on Saturday as several inches of snow piles up in the region. Some passes through the Rockies may become closed for a time.
Drier weather will settle into the region on Sunday, but frigid weather will keep snow and ice on many roads. The cold weather may even bring some wintry weather across the Pacific Northwest.
Farther south, periods of rain will visit northern California this weekend, including San Francisco. The rain will make roads slick as it combines with oil buildup, including I-5 from Redding to Sacramento, California, as well.
The rain will not be heavy though, so incidents of flooding and disruptions to air travel should be limited.
An expansive area of dry and rather mild weather will encompass nearly the entirety of the southern US. Sunshine will prevail for the most part as highs soared into the 70s and 80s.
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