Wintry Travel Trouble Incoming This Holiday Week

Planning on heading out to meet relatives this Thanksgiving? You might be in store for some nasty weather and even delays, according to satellite imagery from NASA and the NOAA.

NASA and the NOAA's pair of Geostationary Operation Environmental Satellites (GOES) fixed over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans has helped experts craft a comprehensive image of the United State's weather systems as they looked on Tuesday, Nov. 25 - a mere two days before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Two weather systems in particular, which will most likely spell trouble for travelers this week, are highlighted in the imagery.

As seen when GOES imagery first revealed North America's frozen face earlier this month, the display of infrared emission was again inverted, making cold cloud tops appear white, frozen land gray, and warm water dark.

The stark whites and grays visibly sweeping across the northern coasts then are obvious signs of difficult incoming weather.

"A storm system will develop off the coast of the Carolinas early Wednesday (Nov. 25) and strengthen as it moves rapidly up the East Coast Wednesday into early Thursday," the NOAA's National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center announced with certainty in a statement Tuesday. "Heavy snow is likely to begin in the central Appalachians early Wednesday morning, spreading northeast through the interior Mid-Atlantic into New England by Wednesday night. Winter Storm Watches are in effect for these areas."

Along the west coast, NOAA and NASA experts add that there is high chance that more snow will press in on regions around the Northern Rocky Mountains, while freezing rain - an obvious driving hazard - will hit the lower valley. Warmer rains will come across the Cascades, but with this being a temporary warfront, there is a high risk of black ice come Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

And while the snow versus rain reports make a big difference for drivers, airports are expecting to be in bad shape regardless, with the Weather Channel already warning travelers to expect serious delays. Grandmas across the country might need to break out the microwave for some reheating this Thanksgiving.

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