For Millions of People, Memorial Day Weekend Could be Ruined by Incoming Storm

Meteorologists monitor a slow-moving storm that is expected to disrupt Memorial Day weekend in areas of the Midwest and Northeast. The storm would not only keep temperatures cold for the formal start of summer, but it also has the potential to cause traffic disruptions during the holiday weekend.

Landfall

The storm is expected to make landfall in the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday night, then move into the northern third of the western United States. As it goes along, it will bring rain and sporadic thunderstorms. This system is expected to get energized when it moves east of the Rockies on Wednesday.

As it pushes eastward into a region where clashing air masses - colder air to the north and hot and muggy air to the south - converge, the system would draw moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. It would travel through the Midwest on Wednesday and Thursday, then through the central Appalachians and the mid-Atlantic. Cold weather would eventually sweep southward in the aftermath of the storm, providing relief to those in the Southern states suffering from an early-season heatwave.

Cloud Formation

Clouds are likely to be dense on the storm's cool northern flank, and steady rain is expected for a while. The precise direction of the storm will determine when the most consistent rain occurs.

When the system moves over the northern Plains, the heaviest rain is expected to occur on drought-stricken areas surrounded by Interstates 90 and 94, including sections of eastern Montana, the Dakotas, and southern Minnesota from Wednesday night to Thursday morning.

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Series of Thunderstorms

Then, from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning, a huge complex of extreme thunderstorms is expected to form just south of the steady rain center, potentially wreaking havoc on areas along I-80 in Nebraska and Iowa.

The rainy part of the storm is expected to pass over the Midwest on Thursday. The storm is forecast to bring at least some rain to cities like Minneapolis, Chicago, and Milwaukee.

Wet Weather

Wet weather is expected to extend through southern Michigan and most of Ohio and Indiana on Thursday night and Friday as the system moves eastward.

On Friday and Friday night, rainy conditions are expected across most of Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, northern Maryland, the southern tier of New York state, most of New Jersey, north of Delaware, and the south coast of New England.

The storm is forecast to hit just as holiday traffic is expected to pick up. Also, AccuWeather forecasters warn motorists can expect more delays than usual for holiday traffic, as well as low visibility and unsafe conditions at times during the heaviest rain.

Storm on Memorial Day

This Memorial Day weekend, AAA predicts 60 percent more visitors than last year, though still smaller than pre-pandemic peaks. More than 37 million people would drive 50 miles or more for a holiday, according to the foundation. Just 23 million people traveled for Memorial Day last year, the lowest number since AAA started tracking travel patterns in 2000, when the country was still dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

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