As central Ohioans settle in to enjoy their families at Thanksgiving, the National Weather Service in Wilmington says not to expect any severe weather to delay travel plans, but it’s not going to be a warm holiday weekend.
AAA is expecting a record number of Americans who will travel more than 50 miles for the holiday. The Ohio Department of Transportation created an infographic showing when the best and worst times to travel during Thanksgiving using previous years’ traffic levels.
According to ODOT, you can expect light traffic on Thanksgiving Day and the day after. The worst of the traffic was between Nov. 24 and Nov. 26, according to ODOT.
Cameras maintained by ODOT also show no major traffic backups or accidents.
Columbus-area forecast into the weekend
For Thanksgiving Day, expect it to be partly sunny, with a high near 34 degrees, according to the weather service. There will also be a west-blowing breeze between 17 and 21 mph.
Here’s the rest of the weather forecast for Thanksgiving and into the weekend.
Nov. 27: At night, partly cloudy, with a low around 21. West wind 11 to 14 mph.
Nov. 28: Mostly sunny, with a high near 33 degrees. West wind between 10 and 14 mph. At night, mostly clear, with a low around 18 degrees. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evenign.
Nov. 29: A chance of snow after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. At night, Snow likely before 1am, then rain and snow between 1am and 4am, then rain after 4am. Low around 29. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.
Nov. 30: Rain likely before 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 40. Chance of precipitation is 60%. At night, mostly cloudy, with a low around 21 degrees.
Weather almanac: How Thursday’s forecast compares to other years
The Columbus area saw a record-breaking temperature high for Nov. 27 in 1990 at 75 degrees. On this day in 1930, a record low of 3 degrees was set.
Historically, this day is usually a bit wet, with an average 0.09 inches of precipitation.
The forecast high is below average for this time of year. The 30-year average maximum temperature for Nov. 27 is 48 degrees. The forecast low is six degrees cooler than the established normal of 32 degrees.
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Ozge Terzioglu contributed to this report.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Expect a cold Thanksgiving weekend in Columbus, with a chance of snow
Reporting by Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
