PHOENIX — With the arrival of Thanksgiving every year comes the inevitable travel headaches. This year, more than 55 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more for the holiday. The Transportation and Security Administration is estimating a record 26.8 million people will take flight this season.
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This year, Thanksgiving travel could be even more daunting due to gloomy forecasts across the country this week, including in Arizona.
Rain is likely in the Valley late Wednesday through Friday. We saw plenty of traffic issues and flooding after rain hit the Phoenix-area and snow hit northern Arizona last week.
A cold front is kicking up the winds starting Monday, especially in the higher terrain areas of the state. A wind advisory is in place for portions of Coconino, Apache and Navajo counties for strong southwest winds 25-30 mph with gusts as high as 50 mph.
Light snow is also expected Monday evening above 6,000 feet with generally up to one inch possible.
This will eventually create chances for rain in the Valley and snow in the High Country late Wednesday through Friday.
Elevations at 6,000 feet and above could pick up more than a foot of snowfall.
The coldest temperatures of the year will follow.
If you're traveling from Arizona to another part of the country, you could also be in for some weather issues. On Tuesday, a low-pressure system over the Midwest could slow flights down. A second system will move onto the west coast that evening.
Whether by car or plane, make sure to use caution while traveling during this Thanksgiving week and give yourself more than enough time to get where you need to go.
Some extra travel tips. If you're flying, you can use Flight Aware to check how congested the security lines are at the airport you're departing from using their "Misert Map."
If you're traveling on the roads in the Valley this week, keep an eye on the Arizona Department of Transportation's Twitter page, where they post closures, accidents and congestion updates routinely during weather situations.
And of course, keep up with us on 12News.com where we will have constant forecast updates and our Twitter and Facebook pages where we will be giving you updates on all things weather and travel this week.