Wind, Heavy Rain, Snow Could Affect Holiday Travel

The Northeast is getting hit hard today by a winter storm that could affect travel plans for many while locally, the national weather service is forecasting the possibility of some snow tonight for the area. 

Widespread flight cancellations were not being reported Wednesday morning but TIME magazine reports some flights to New York and Philadelphia were being delayed due to high winds.

O'Hare listed a handful of flights Wednesday morning that were delaying take-off to East Coast airports (check here for more O'Hare delays) as did Midway International Airport (check here for more Midway delays/cancellations). One flight from Midway to Memphis had been cancelled Wednesday morning. 

Wednesday is considered the busiest day for travel over the holiday weekend with 37 percent of travelers departing the day before Thanksgiving, AAA Chicago reports. Around 3.14 million travelers nationally will fly to their destinations and the average distance traveled this year will be 601 miles, according to AAA Chicago. 

Locally, the Illinois Tollway anticipates approximately 10 million vehicles will use one of Chicago's tollways over the Thanksgiving weekend and 1.7 million vehicles are projected to be on the road Wednesday. 

Winter Storm Boreas is expected to bring more snow to the Northeast, with as much as 12 to 18 inches of snow forecasted for western Pennsylvania and western New York, according to the Weather Channel. The mid-Atlantic and South are expected to experience high winds and heavy rain. 

As of early Wednesday, moderate to heavy rain was moving over the southeast and the mid-Atlantic regions while light to moderate snow fell across parts of the Ohio Valley to the lower Great Lakes and northern New England.

The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories for the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys, the Appalachians, interior of the mid-Atlantic region, the lower Great Leaks and interior New England.

Locally, there is a 20 percent chance of snow after midnight in Grayslake. Cloudy skies are expected to become mostly sunny with a high near 30 on Thanksgiving. South southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph.

For those traveling into northwest Indiana, lake effect snow is expected during the day Wednesday with a few inches of accumulation expected in far eastern Porter County. This combined with high winds could affect holiday travel, according to the National Weather Service.