A Thanksgiving storm could spell trouble for travelers this week. A powerful winter storm, which has already killed eight people, is headed towards the east coast as Thanksgiving approaches.
The front began in California on Thursday and is now affecting North Texas. The storm has brought a mix of rain, light freezing rain and sleet. The west coast was hit with up to three feet of snow in some areas between Texas and California, ABC reports.
Meteorologists are expecting the storm to head south and then east and can impact travel for millions on Tuesday and Wednesday, when most people are expected to take to the rods and the skies for Thanksgiving.
According to AAA, more than 43 million americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more over the week. Some flights have already been impacted as more than 300 million were canceled at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Sunday.
"DFW is the fourth-busiest airport in the country and as such it's a major part of the interconnected aviation system of the United States and really of the world," airport spokesman David Magana told ABC News Radio.
There is a winter weather advisory in effect from Texas to California on Monday due to icy conditions. The weather system will move into the Gulf of Mexico on Monday where it is expected to drop more rain from Houston to Atlanta.
It is then expected to move up the East Coast and could bring two to five inches of rain from the Carolinas to Maine, which could lead to flash flooding. Coder areas like Knoxville, Cleveland, Buffalo and Syracuse will be hit with snow and could get as much as a foot.
The weather system also brings strong winds from 30 to 50 mph on Tuesday and Wednesday. The weather system will be gone from the East Coast by
Thanksgiving, but temperatures will remain low.
The winter storm has killed at least eight people in New Mexico, many involving traffic accidents and downed trees.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
