Holiday travel: dicey travel for some, including Midwest

Ready or not, Thanksgiving and Black Friday are upon us. That means millions and millions of Americans will be flying or driving over the next week or so. The most important question that everyone wants answered is: "What will the weather be like?" The answer to that varies by region and by day. Fortunately, Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday are looking good for a large chunk of the country. 

The only blips on the radar for Thanksgiving will be the rain and mountain snow across the Pacific Northwest, and the extreme cold across the Northeast. Otherwise, the weather across the U.S. is shaping up to be cooperative. Black Friday's weather is also looking good for a majority of the country. The exceptions will be the Pacific Northwest as rain and snow will continue, in addition to the middle of the country. 

A cold front will be slicing across the nation's midsection, bringing a round of rain to areas from Houston to Little Rock to Des Moines during the afternoon. By late Friday evening, rain chances increase for the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Tennessee Valley. This includes Michiana, as well as much of Indiana and southern Michigan. The good news for us, though, is the fact that we are likely to see sunshine and milder weather through dinnertime on Black Friday!

For those planning on heading home this weekend, the weather may or may not cooperate depending on which day you plan on traveling. Saturday will be mild with rain showers ending by the early afternoon hours in Michiana. Rain and milder temperatures will also be in place through the first half of the day from Marquette, Michigan, all the way to the Southeast. That rain will spread into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast as the day progresses. That could cause some airport delays and slowdowns on the roads. The worst time for travel may be Saturday night into Sunday for the Plains, Midwest, Ohio Valley, and Great Lakes regions. That's because a strong, compact area of low pressure will develop in Nebraska and slide across Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. This will bring snow and wind, perhaps significant, to parts of Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. We could even see some snow and wind late Sunday. The warm side of the low will provide rain and wind to parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.

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