Thanksgiving Travel: It's Discouraged, But Not Really Because Of Weather

Travel weather this Thanksgiving week will be OK, but 
DON'T GO!  Stay home to minimize Covid spread! 

About this time of year, every year, I do a piece on anticipated Thanksgiving travel weather, and I always hope the conditions are great for those of us taking trains, planes and automobiles. 

This year, I'm actually hoping for horrendous weather, dreaming that storms would discourage travel and big get togethers, the kind that spread Covid-19.

Things are looking grim in Covid department. Health officials and many leaders, including Gov Phil Scott here in Vermont, are pretty much begging people to call off big Thanksgiving gatherings involving people from multiple households. This is the type of event that seems to be a major driver of the current trend in soaring Covid cases and hospitalizations. 

There's actually an order in Vermont now from Governor Scott that bans these type of multi-household gatherings. 

Against that background, I have to say that travel conditions, particularly here in the Northeast, will unfortunately be pretty good this week.  That means it might be an OK week to get last minute pre-winter stuff done in your yard. 

Despite the relatively placid weather, I'd blow off the idea of going over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house.  If you avoid that trip this year, you'll really up the chances you'll enjoy grandma's loving company and her exquisite apple pie for years to come. 

Anyway, the weather details go like this:

Today, here in Vermont, rain will eventually taper off, and maybe mix with some snow toward the end later today as temperatures drop.  The best chance of snow will be in the mountains, and it won't amount to much. 

Tuesday will be dry and wintry cold, with highs in most places in the 20s.  This cold snap, like the last one, will be brief and feature some sunshine. 

It will start to warm up Wednesday, but the characteristic overcast of November will return.  As the warm up starts, we might get a little mixed precipitation, much like we did toward the end of the day Sunday, but it will all change to rain .

A cold rain will continue Wednesday night and probably well into Thanksgiving Day.  But it won't freeze. 

Then, through the weekend, it looks cloudy, but not particularly stormy, and a tiny bit warmer than average for this time of year (Highs mostly in the 40s, lows in the upper 20s and 30s).

Nationally, there will be some trouble midweek in the middle of the country, Wednesday, there could be some snow in parts of the Upper Midwest.  More troublesome will be the risk of thunderstorms, some possibly severe, in the southern Plains and the southern half of the Mississippi Valley Tuesday and Wednesday.

However, by the standards of many Thanksgiving weeks, the U.S. will feature less storminess than we've sometimes have had this time of year. 

Still. Stay home unless it's absolutely necessary to go somewhere.  And wear a damn mask!