Weather will cooperate as travel begins for Thanksgiving holiday

By Terry Eliasen, WBZ-TV Meteorologist, Executive Weather Producer

BOSTON — Happy Turkey Week! This is widely known as the busiest travel week of the year and nothing can foul up the perfect holiday plans like the weather.

This year we have good news and bad news…

The good news: you should be able to get to your destination without any weather delays! Whether it be by plane, train, or automobile, from coast to coast, the weather over the next few days looks very quiet.

The bad news: depending on when you plan to return, the ride back home could be much more complicated.

Let’s break it down day by day.

Monday: Looking across the country on Monday, there is almost zero precipitation falling. Other than some rain showers in south Texas and Florida it is remarkably quiet out there.

Tuesday: Another great day to travel. I don’t really see any potential trouble spots. Just some rain showers again in parts of south Texas, Florida, and up in the Pacific Northwest.

Wednesday: Once again, a very quiet weather day across most of the U.S. Some showers again in parts of Texas and Florida and a few rain or snow showers in the Rockies. The Northeast is particularly quiet with lots of sunshine and seasonal temperatures.

Thanksgiving: Great weather (albeit a bit chilly) for the morning high school football rivalry games!

It will be a quiet afternoon as well, with very little wind. Certainly OK for a late-day walk to work off some of that turkey. I, for one, will likely opt for a nap instead.

Something to note — a storm system will start to gather strength in the Deep South on Thursday…it will likely be raining from the Gulf Coast up through the Chicago area. 

This is our NEXT BIG THING…There will likely be two storms ejecting out of the South that will head towards New England. The first will bring some light rain showers on Friday. The second may be a bit more powerful, the timing on that would be Sunday.  

This could have major travel implications for those hitting the road on Sunday as it will likely be a sizeable storm with impacts throughout the northeastern U.S.

Lastly, if you have a yearly tradition of shopping for the Christmas tree or putting up some holiday lights this weekend…right now it appears Saturday may be your best bet.