Maps show storms could cause Thanksgiving travel chaos as 80million are set to hit the roads and 18M will take to the air this week

New maps have revealed just how chaotic Thanksgiving travel will be, as wintry weather complicates travel for the millions of travelers heading home this week.

Auto club and insurance company AAA predicts that nearly 80 million Americans will venture at least 50 miles from home between Tuesday and next Monday.

The Transportation Security Administration expects 18.3 million people at U.S. airports in the same seven-day period, up 6% from the same days last year.

The National Weather Service office in Sacramento, California, has issued a winter storm warning for the Sierra Nevada through Tuesday, with heavy snow expected at higher elevations and wind gusts possibly reaching 55 mph.

Total snowfall of about four feet was forecast, with the heaviest snowfall expected on Monday and Tuesday, a concerning development for those traveling home for Thanksgiving.

The Midwest and Great Lakes regions will see rain and snow on Monday, and the East Coast will be hardest hit over Thanksgiving and Black Friday, forecasters said.

A low-pressure system is expected to bring rain to the southeast early Thursday before moving northeast.

Areas from Boston to New York could experience rain and windy conditions, with snowfall possible in parts of northern New Hampshire, northern Maine and the Adirondacks.

98 million people are expected to travel home for Thanksgiving

If the system moves further inland, less snow and more rain could fall in the mountains, forecasters said.

“The system doesn’t look like a powerhouse right now,” Hayden Frank, a meteorologist with the Massachusetts weather service, said Sunday. “Basically this will bring rain to the I-95 corridor, so travelers should prepare for wet weather. Unless the system gets much colder, it will look like rain.”

Frank said he doesn’t see any major storm systems arriving anywhere in the country this weekend, so travelers heading home Sunday can expect good driving conditions. However, temperatures will get colder in the east while warming in the west.

California’s Mammoth Mountain, which received 0.6 meters of fresh snow during the recent storm, could receive another 1.2 meters before the latest system clears on Wednesday, the resort said.

Parts of the Midwest and East Coast can expect heavy rain through Thanksgiving, and there is a chance of snow in the northeastern states.

A storm last week brought rain to New York and New Jersey, where wildfires have raged in recent weeks, and heavy snow to northeastern Pennsylvania.

The precipitation was expected to help alleviate the drought after an exceptionally dry autumn.

“It won’t be drought relief, but it will certainly help,” said Bryan Greenblatt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Binghamton, New York.

Travelers wait at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Atlanta, as the Thanksgiving travel season kicks off

Travelers line up at the security checkpoint at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois on November 22, 2024, ahead of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday

Heavy snow fell across northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono Mountains. Higher highs reported up to 17 inches (43 centimeters), with smaller accumulations in valley towns including Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.

Complicating travel further is a major strike at North Carolina’s Charlotte Douglas International Airport, protesting what they say are unlivable wages.

Service Employees International Union officials announced the upcoming strike in a statement early Monday, saying workers would demand “an end to poverty wages and respect at work during the holiday season.”

ABM and Prospect Airport Services have contracted with American Airlines to provide services including aircraft interior cleaning, trash removal and escorting passengers in wheelchairs.

Workers say they previously raised alarms about their growing inability to afford basic necessities, including food and housing. They described living paycheck to paycheck, unable to cover expenses such as car repairs while performing tasks that kept countless planes running on schedule.

“We are on strike today because this is our last resort. We cannot continue to live like this,” ABM cabin cleaner Priscilla Hoyle said in a statement. “We are taking action because our families cannot survive.”

Several hundred workers were expected to walk off the job and continue the work stoppage throughout Monday.

Most of them earn between $12.50 and $19 an hour, which is well below the living wage for a single person without children in the Charlotte region, union officials said.

Passengers arrive at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on November 22, 2024, ahead of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday

Travelers arrive at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois on November 22, 2024, ahead of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday

Charlotte Douglas International Airport officials have said this holiday season is expected to be the busiest ever, with an estimated 1.02 million passengers leaving the airport between last Thursday and the Monday after Thanksgiving.

In addition to the layoffs, striking workers plan to hold a rally at 11 a.m. and a “Strikesgiving” lunch at 1 p.m. “in lieu of the Thanksgiving meal that many of the workers cannot afford later this week,” union officials said . .

“Airport workers make leisure travel possible by keeping airports safe, clean and running,” the union said. “Despite their crucial role in the profits of major companies, many airport service workers have to work two to three jobs to make ends meet.”

ABM said it would take steps to minimize disruption from demonstrations.

“At ABM, we appreciate the hard work our team members put in every day to support our customers and help keep spaces clean and people healthy,” the company said in a statement last week.

Prospect Airport Services said last week that the company recognizes the seriousness of the potential strike during the busy holiday season.