Inclement weather across the country could cause delays as forecasts show rain and snow ahead of the holidays.
Weekend travel schedules were disrupted due to wintry weather conditions in the Northeast on Saturday, while western states braced for the upcoming spell of rain along with mountain snowfall at lower altitudes. By Sunday morning, forecasters predicted the severe weather would impact several Interstate highways in the northeast and northwest, including I-95, I-90, I-84, I-80 and I-5.
The weather caused power lines to be downed on the Amtrak and New Jersey Transit railroads Sunday morning, suspending both companies' train services in Philadelphia as well as parts of New Jersey and New York. CBS News Philadelphia Informed. In an alert notice sent by Amtrak, the company said: “Due to overhead power wires blocking the tracks, service between Philadelphia and New York is temporarily suspended. Amtrak personnel are on scene.” Amtrak estimated the tracks would reopen at 12 noon ET on Sunday.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, forecasts show that a mix of rain and snow will continue across the Great Lakes and Northeast regions from Monday through Tuesday, which is Christmas Eve. Heavy rainfall is expected to fall across parts of the Mississippi Valley on Tuesday, with the weather forecast already calling for a slight risk of flash flooding for the region.
According to the tracking website FlightAware, 1,683 flights in or out of the United States were delayed today and 55 flights in or out of the US were canceled as of late Sunday morning. The tracker showed that delays tripled and cancellations nearly doubled since 5 a.m. ET. Of the affected US airports, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport are bearing the brunt of the scheduling setbacks. Boston Logan and JFK in New York each reported about 80 delays to departing flights, while O'Hare reported more than 40 delays.
it's taking shape The busiest holiday travel season at the end of the year on record, According to Auto Club AAAWhich says more than 119 million people are expected to travel at least 50 miles from their homes between Saturday and New Year's Day this weekend. That would be above the previous record-high set during the holiday season in 2019. This year, the weekend before and after Christmas will see the most crowd on roads and airports.
As the U.S. House averted a government shutdown late Friday, the Transportation Security Administration also said it was preparing to screen about 40 million people between Dec. 19 and Jan. 2, a 6.2% increase from last year's figure. Is more. According to the TSA, the busiest days were expected to be December 20, December 27 and December 30. But airlines are preparing for big crowds on Sunday as well as Dec. 26 and Dec. 29, while they expect relatively slow flight traffic on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Trade group Airlines for America predicted a similar record, saying it expected U.S. airlines to carry 54 million passengers between Dec. 18 and Jan. 6. This number would be a 6% increase over last year's holiday air travel figures.