The Thanksgiving travel exodus has already begun. Whether you’re in the skies, on the roadways or staying put this year, here’s what you need to know about the weather during this holiday week.

WET MORNING, DRY AFTERNOON

Temperatures this morning are above freezing in most areas with thickening clouds, but no rain as of yet. A cold front approaching the area will bring a period of rain for the first half of Wednesday, and it will continue up to the evening commute. If you are traveling today you can expect the rain to taper off as you head west. The loop below shows the rain pushing eastward late today and offshore by dark.

A cold front from the west has its own showers and these will combine with an area of rain off the coast to bring some wet weather Wednesday.

DRY TRAVEL ACROSS MOST OF THE U.S.

The rain in New England this morning is the exception, not the rule, across the country. The overall weather pattern is quite tranquil and there are only a couple of other areas where there’s precipitation in the lower 48. Across the West Coast, however, several storms will come ashore and bring precipitation during the Thanksgiving weekend. The rest of the country remains relatively dry and without weather-related travel issues.

Dry weather returns Thursday and continues much of this weekend.

A COLD THANKSGIVING DAY

The northeast corner of the country will be the coldest on Thanksgiving Day. When you get up on Thursday, temperatures will generally be below freezing in New England all the way back through the Great Lakes. Those attending Thursday football games should expect frozen ground and temperatures in the 30s.

It’s coldest across the northeast corner of the United States this Thanksgiving.

Dry weather for shopping and traveling home

Friday looks generally dry with sunshine or partly sunny skies. Temperatures on Friday will be in the 40s across New England. We will see a brief warm-up on Saturday with temperatures getting into the 50s before cooling back down again on Sunday. There will be an area of rain close to New England Saturday.  Later forecasts will need to determine if we see rain Saturday night and early Sunday or if this system misses us. 

The NAM model has rain moving into Maine Saturday night.

SKIES WILL DARKER EARLY

Not that you need me to remind you, but the sunsets this weekend are very early. In fact, the sun will set earlier on Thanksgiving Day than it will on Christmas Day. So if you are planning that post-Thanksgiving feast walk, remember the flashlight if you’re headed out much later than 4:30 p.m.

The sunsets are within a few minutes of their earliest times of the year now.

Happy Thanksgiving!