Airlines and airports struggled to get people home on Monday after bad weather forced the cancellation and delay of thousands of flights over the Thanksgiving weekend.
More than 7,000 US flights, both arriving and departing, were delayed or canceled on Sunday, one of the busiest of the year, according to tracking website Flightaware.com. More than 1,300 flights were delayed or canceled on Monday morning.
Travel is making a comeback after the ravages of Covid-19. The AAA estimates that 54.6 million people travel 50 miles or more from home during the Thanksgiving holiday. This is 1.5% more than in 2021 and 98% more than before the pandemic.
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This year is expected to be the third Thanksgiving trip since AAA began tracking it in 2000. But rain and thunderstorms in the south and snow in the Pacific Northwest have exacerbated some of the post-Thanksgiving travel problems. And this dangerous time is far away.
© Phelan M. Ebenhak, AP Due to weather delays, the NFL football game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, November 27, 2022 took place in Jacksonville, Florida.
30 million people are vulnerable to extreme weather.
The storm passing through the Rocky Mountains is expected to bring severe weather, from high winds to tornadoes, from the Gulf Coast to the Mississippi Valley. About 30 million people in the south-central United States could be at risk of severe storms on Tuesday alone, Aquier meteorologists warned.
“We’re pretty sure there’s going to be a series of coastal storms from Tuesday into Tuesday night,” said equatorial meteorologist Bernie Raynaud. “People need to take this threat seriously.”
The National Weather Service blamed the strong cold front that hit the western half of the Highlands on Monday on high winds, heavy snowfall and massive wildfire in the intermountain west. The storm is expected to intensify on Tuesday as humidity increases rapidly in the central and lower Mississippi Valley. Hurricanes and storms are expected.
“Conditions should allow the storm to move easily, creating the risk of a major storm,” said water meteorologist Andrew Johnson-Levin. “Two strong and prolonged hurricanes cannot be ruled out.”
Severe Weather Forecast: Severe weather “breeds” south of Texas to Illinois at 25m .
New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham may be affected.
AccuWeather reports that the main metropolitan areas likely to be hit by thunderstorms are New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville and Birmingham, Alabama, where the storm could cause flooding on Wednesday.
Air passengers should expect more delays Tuesday through Wednesday north of severe storms in the Midwest and Northeast, the service said.
This article originally appeared in USA TODAY: Thousands of Flights Delayed After Thanksgiving; 30 m for severe storm hazards
