Record Thanksgiving travel collides with disruptive winter storms across the U.S.

Nearly 82 million people are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home over the Thanksgiving holiday this year, marking the busiest season in at least 15 years and a new overall record, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA) and federal aviation officials.

About 73 million of those travelers are forecast to hit the road, while around 6 million will fly and another 2.5 million will rely on trains, buses and cruises.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects more than 360,000 flights nationwide during the holiday travel period, with roughly 52,000 departures scheduled on Tuesday alone — the single busiest day of the week.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) projects that about 17.8 million passengers will pass through airport checkpoints, and officials warn that the Sunday after Thanksgiving could rank among the busiest days in TSA history.

On top of the usual holiday crowds, travelers now face a sprawling and fast-moving weather pattern. A major winter storm is sweeping across the Northern Plains, Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, where meteorologists warn of heavy snow, blizzard-like conditions and powerful winds that could dump up to three feet of snow in some areas and bring the first significant “lake-effect” events of the season.

The National Weather Service has placed multiple states under winter storm warnings or winter weather advisories, with hazardous driving conditions and potential power outages expected along the Great Lakes shoreline, particularly near Lake Superior and Lake Erie.

Farther south, a line of strong to locally severe thunderstorms is marching from northern Georgia across parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama toward the Florida Panhandle, bringing torrential downpours and a risk of flash flooding.

AccuWeather forecasters say these storms could trigger ground stops at major hubs such as Atlanta and New Orleans and cause slick, low-visibility conditions along busy interstates including stretches of I-20, I-40, I-65, I-75 and I-95.

In the Pacific Northwest, another storm arriving from the ocean is expected to unleash an atmospheric river, soaking lower-elevation cities with heavy rain while dropping significant mountain snow through Thanksgiving Day.

Behind the main cold front, much colder air will sweep from the central United States toward the East and South, sending temperatures tumbling by 15–20 degrees Fahrenheit or more and setting the stage for dangerous wind chills in some regions.

The impact on air travel is already being felt. As of late Tuesday, more than 5,000 flights across the United States had been delayed or canceled since Monday because of severe weather, with widespread thunderstorms in the South and snow from the Intermountain West into the Midwest disrupting both local and cross-country routes.

Airlines and federal officials are cautioning passengers to expect ripple effects as storms shift eastward and interact with record-high passenger volumes.

On the roads, congestion is building as millions of drivers try to time their departures around the worst of the weather and traffic. Transportation data firm INRIX, working with AAA, says Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons will likely see the heaviest backups before Thanksgiving, while Sunday is expected to bring day-long jams as people head home.

Drivers around large metro areas such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and others are being advised to travel in the morning hours where possible, and to allow additional time for accidents, road closures or sudden squalls.

The holiday rush also comes just a week after the FAA lifted unprecedented flight restrictions imposed during the recent government shutdown.

While aviation experts say airlines have long experience managing Thanksgiving peaks, they stress that much of the burden now falls on travelers themselves: arriving early at airports, closely monitoring weather forecasts and flight status alerts, and having backup plans in case storms force last-minute rerouting.

“Thanksgiving travel numbers are always impressive because this holiday has become synonymous with heading out of town to spend time with loved ones,” AAA Travel vice-president Stacey Barber noted, urging people to stay flexible and prioritize safety as they navigate crowded roads and storm-threatened skies.