Christmas travel trouble: Northeast ice and West Coast storms threaten road, air travel across US
As millions prepare to journey "over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house" this holiday season, an active weather pattern threatens to complicate travel plans across the United States. AccuWeather meteorologists are forecasting significant disruptions, with icy and snow-covered roads in the Northeast and flooding and avalanche risks ramping up along the Pacific Coast.
A series of potent storms is expected to hammer the West Coast through the weekend after Christmas while precipitation in the Central and Eastern states will also contribute to travel woes. Whether by car or plane, travelers should brace for delays and hazardous conditions on their way to holiday celebrations.
Close to one storm per day will roll ashore along the West Coast from Washington to Northern California. While there may be a slight pause centered on Christmas Day in the storm train, each storm will increase the risk of flash flooding, road washouts, mudslides in the lower elevations and snow-clogged roads at times with an avalanche risk high up in the mountains.
AccuWeather has a separate story covering more specific information on the West Coast.
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A storm will push across the northern Plains with spotty snow near and north of its track. As that storm reaches the Mississippi Valley on Tuesday, a moisture flow will cause precipitation to become widespread and significant.
Rain, patchy fog and spotty thunderstorms will shift encompass the central Gulf coast, Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachians on Monday night and the day before Christmas. A batch of rain and thunderstorms may survive the trip to the southern Atlantic coast by Christmas Day.
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Whenever mild and moist air flows over a zone of cold and dry air, dense fog can form and where the air remains cold enough, there will be some ice and snow concerns for travelers from the Great Lakes region into Monday night shifting to the central Appalachians, New England and perhaps part of the mid-Atlantic on Tuesday.
There will be a bit of snow or a wintry mix in the region from Boston and New York City to Philadelphia and perhaps even Washington, D.C., for a time on Tuesday.
Enough snow and/or ice will occur from the central Appalachians to the mid-Atlantic coast and southern New England to make roads slippery for a time. Heavier snow will fall from northern Michigan to northern New York and northern New England.
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A plume of moisture may remain over the lower Mississippi and Ohio valleys on Christmas Day as one of the storms moves offshore over the Atlantic. The lingering moisture will help to fuel a new storm with drenching downpours and locally severe thunderstorms over the South-Central states.
This moisture may expand northward into lingering chilly air over the Midwest once again later Christmas Day and into Thursday.
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Fog can be locally dense along portions of the central Gulf coast from Monday to Thursday this week.
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